CHAPTER VII 



HELPS IN HATCHING SEASON 



No doubt but that a good operator can hatch per- 

 fect chicks by -incubator and keep up the vigor and 

 excellence of his stock year after year without using a 

 single sitting hen, but complete success requires care 

 and experience. Very complete manuals on the sub- 

 ject may be had free by writing to those who advertise 

 the machines. Of late years many very practical incu- 

 bators have been placed on the market, while the older 

 makes have been greatly improved, especially in regard 

 to heat regulation. The incubator catalogs contain 

 plenty of testimonials, and by writing to some of the 

 more prominent of these, the intending buyer may soon 

 decide which machine is best suited to his taste and 

 conditions. 



While there are still many points of difference 

 between manufacturers as to hot air or hot water heat, 

 moisture or no moisture, cooling and ventilation, yet 

 most of the incubators now on the market will hatch 

 eggs satisfactorily in the hands of a careful operator. 

 By the use of common sense and following the instruc- 

 tions laid down by the makers, even a beginner can 

 expect good hatches from fertile eggs. With experi- 

 ence, hatches of seventy-five to ninety per cent of fer- 

 tile eggs are commonly obtained. 



Incubators vary in capacity from fifty to four hun- 

 dred eggs. One size is as easy to run as another. For 

 the practical farmer a machine of one hundred, one 

 hundred and fifty or two hundred-egg capacity is the 



