ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION 



lyne gas, which burns with a perfectly white light and with 

 great brilliancy. 



Having occasion to use the egg tester on an incubator 

 full of eggs, we decided to try the lantern for that purpose, 

 and after having fitted over the lens a piece of black enamel 

 cloth with a hole in it, we discovered much to our surprise 

 and gratification, that it was far ahead of any so-called egg 

 tester we had ever used. The intense white light seemed to 

 make the egg about as nearly transparent as is possible, and 

 in dark shell eggs we had no difficulty in detecting the 

 fertile eggs at the end of the third day of incubation, the 

 minute blood vessels being distinctly discernible. We shall 

 continue to use the lantern hereafter in preference to the 

 regular tester, because of its unquestionable superiority. 



We advise those who have a carbide lantern to try it. 



There is also a hint in this to the manufacturers of egg 

 testers. 



THE HATCHING OF CHICKS 



THE IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT TEMPER- 

 ATURE IN INCUBATORS— LOCATION MUST 

 BE DRY— HATCH THE CHICKS EARLY 



W. F. CHAMBERLAIN 



I RAISE and keep from one thousand to fifteen hundred 

 chickens each season, and if I can give any information 

 that will help a beginner and save him one little chick, I 

 will feel well repaid for my trouble. Generally it seems to be 

 the best that die; any way we miss them more, and fret ourselves 

 with thoughts of what they might have been. It is far better 

 to use some precautions, some care and so avoid these troubles. 

 See that your eggs come from strong, healthy stock, and do 

 not set eggs from stock that you know has been diseased at 

 any time, as it will show in your little chicks some time and 

 cause you trouble when you least expect it. Use old stock for 

 breeding if you can, as I believe old hens and roosters produce 

 the best and strongest chicks. It you cannot use old stock,' use 

 a cockerel with old hens or a cock with pullets. I find that the 

 first eggs a hen lays hatch stronger chicks than the last eggs 

 she lays, and it might be well to bear this in mind when you 

 set your hens or fill your incubators. 



INCUBATORS 



See that your incubator. is placed in some place where the 

 temperature does not change any more than possible. A bright, 

 dry, well-ventilated cellar is certainly an ideal place in which to 

 hatch chickens by artificial or natural means, but the air in a 

 damp, close cellar will so poison the germs developing in the 

 eggs that satisfactory hatches are impossible. If the cellar is 

 not dry and has windows that can remain open throughout the 

 hatch, the machine should not be located in it. A north room — 

 unheated — is far preferable, or an open shed. High-percentage 

 hatches can be turned out in an ordinary woodshed with an earth 

 floor even during the warm months of June and July. 



Warm up your machine at least twenty-four hours before 

 you place your eggs in it, and see that it is perfectly regulated 

 and that the temperature is as near one hundred and three 

 degrees as possible. When you place your eggs in the machine 

 you will notice that the temperature will drop very fast on ac- 



count of the eggs being cold but do not be alanmed, as the 

 temperature in the machine will soon rise, and if your machine 

 is well regulated, in a few hours the temperature will again be 

 up to one hundred and three degrees. A few degrees below one 

 hundred and three during the hatch will not cause any trouble, 

 but a few degrees above one hundred and three is approaching 

 the danger point. You will have to watch the temperature of 

 your machine very closely, and run it as near one hundred and 

 three as possible. See that the eggs you put in the machine are 

 fresh and clean and as even size as possible; that is, do not use 

 any great big eggs or any very small ones. Watch the lamp in 

 your incubator carefully. Have a regular time to fill and trim 

 it, using a match to rub off the charred wick. Hatching chicks 

 with an incubator is like any other business, you will have to go 

 through just so many ups and downs before you get there, and 

 while you can get some good information from your incubator 

 catalogue, you will get more lasting information from your fi[rst 

 few failures, for experience is the best teacher in the chicken 

 business as well as in all other business. Do not forget to turn 

 and cool your eggs, as the cooling of the egg is life and strength 

 to the little chick, and if you do not give this part of the busi- 

 ness your careful attention, you will have very poor hatches, 

 and those that do hatch will be weak. 



EARLY CHICKS GIVE GOOD RETURNS 



Hatch your chicks as early in the spring as possible, as it 

 is the early chicks that count and bring you in good returns, 



because they grow 

 quicker, keep heal- 

 thier and lay earl- 

 ier. Early chicks 

 run all day long 

 and grow every 

 minute in the day, 

 while late hatched 

 chicks spend most 

 of their time hunt- 

 ing for some cool, 

 shady place, arid 

 only range a few 

 hours morning and 

 evening. This lack 

 of exercise and feed 

 causes them to grow very slowly and in fact they never make the 

 growth they should. When your hen comes off with her brood 

 in the early spring, see that she is put in a roomy coop and 

 that the coop is placed in some dry shed with a window in it, 

 so that the little ones can come out and scratch around when 

 the ground is dry. Little chicks can stand lots of cold weather 

 if kept perfectly dry, and will make wonderful growth. Later 

 on when the weather is warmer and the storms are not quite 

 so bad you can place the coop under a tree and build a yard 

 in front of it, with poultry netting, so that the hen can come 

 out and dust herself and enjoy the sunshine while her little 

 chicks have free range. You will be surprised how many you 

 will raise in this way and how easy it is to take care of them. 

 We have had the hotest summer we ever knew, and I hatched 

 late and raised about seven hundred Leghorn chicks, and my 

 loss was about seven per cent. Considering the weather, this 

 was remarkable. It may be a little trouble for you to make 

 your hen and chicks comfortable, but you must not hope to 

 succeed without this trouble. 



42— AN ACETYLENE LIGHT EGG TESTER 



51 



