ARTIFICIAL INCUBATING AND BROODING 



HATCHING CHICKS FOR SALE 



A FARMER RUNS 77 INCUBATORS-25 

 NEIGHBORING FARMERS SUPPLY EGGS 



A. F. HUNTER 



WE HEAR poultrymen say, now and then, that they 

 hatch chickens for their neighbors at 5 cents apiece, 

 or some agreed upon price, and occasionally we hear 

 of cases where men having incubators have taken up the work 

 of hatching chickens for others as an additional source of in- 

 come. It has frequently occured to us that there were great 

 possibiKties in this direction; that a man who had a faculty of 

 operating incubators successfully could make a good Hving by 

 hatching chicks for farmers who were too busy, or not sufficiently 

 well equipped to do the hatching themselves. Hatching chicks 

 for others is no new thing, as we know of the celebrated Egyp- 

 tian hatching ovens, in the operation of which men make a Hve- 

 lihood and where the usual method is to pay two eggs for a 

 newly hatched chick. These Egyptian hatchers must be re- 

 markably successful in their operations, if they can dehver a 

 chick for two eggs and make their profit out of the marketing 

 of the hatch. Undoubtedly they do make a, profit, else they 

 would not continue in the business. As it is the concensus of 

 opinion that an average of a 50 per cent hatch is all that can 

 reasonably be expected, taking the season through, our American 

 incubator operators would hardly make a living hatching upon 

 that basis. We know a gentleman in Canada who has been 

 quite successful in building up a hatching trade. He began by 

 hatching for some of his neighbors, charging them five cents per 

 egg for the use of the machine and his trouble; from that it was 

 an easy step to hatching his own eggs and selling newly hatched 

 chicks, and without any advertising he has developed a consid- 

 erable trade in newly hatched chicks and in some instances has 

 shipped them to considerable distances. 



We know of one man in New Jersey who has successfully 

 shipped in the east to Maine and New Hampshire, as far west as 

 Dakota and Nebraska and as far south as Florida, and the 

 sample testimonials as to the condition of the chicks on arrival 

 indicate that there are scarcely any losses and that the shipping 

 of chicks even to these great distances is entirely successful. 



A visit to this "hatchery" gave us some interesting points 

 and a brief account of the methods employed will not only be 

 interesting, but will point out the way to others taking up this 

 porfitable line of work. 



The owner of this plant uses 77 incubators and is apparently 

 making money out of the new-old venture. He buys his eggs 

 for hatching from farmers thereabouts, whom he has induced 

 to keep good, thoroughbred stock for the purpose. There are 

 about twenty-five of these fanners now supplying him with 

 eggs and he pays them five cents a dozen above market price. 



The chicks are Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Leg- 

 horns, these being popular farm varieties. He has also added 

 Buff Plymouth Rooks to his list and for these he gets a higher 

 price because the eggs are harder to get. 



It is surprising to learn that he does not test the eggs at all, 

 his statement being that he had thought it did not pay to bother 

 to test them. In this we disagree with him, because the abso- 

 lutely clear eggs tested out by the fifth or sixth day could be sold 

 to bakers and used in many ways. They form excellent food 

 for chicks and would be so much salvage. He told us that from 

 360 eggs in each machine he averaged to ship 1 75 to 200 chicks. 



The chicks are shipped when about twenty-four hours old 

 in shallow, flat boxes which are about seven inches' deep. A 

 burlap cover is tacked over them about 3^ inches from the 

 bottom, or half way from the bottom to top of the box. No 

 other covering is put over them, excepting that in cold weather 

 there will be two thicknesses of burlap. According to the 

 nimnber of chicks to be shipped. 



Ordinary boxes are bought of the grocers, and if they are 

 more than eight inches high they are cut down to the desired 

 size. A box, say two and one-half feet long by ten or twelve 

 inches wide, would have a partition in, dividing it in halves, and 

 fifty to seventy-five chicks will be put in each end. These boxes 

 are all made ready and the burlap cover tacked on, with the 

 exception of two or three tacks out of one corner (or one comer 

 of each compartment if it is a, long box divided in halves); the 

 chicks are shpped in through the untacked corner, which is then 

 secured in place and the package is ready for the expressman. 

 At the time of our visit a man was busy preparing these shipping 

 boxes and was kept busy at that work four or five days in a, 

 week. This gives one an idea of the extent of the business. A 

 strip of cover-board four or five inches wide is nailed on top to 

 tack the shipping tag onto, and the shipment is complete. 



This is a very interesting story, and tells much as to the 

 possibilities of the development of the poultry interest. Here 

 is a man shipping newly hatched chicks all over the United 

 States, even as far west as Nebraska and Dakota and as far 

 south as Florida. The question arises: "Why are there not 

 hundreds of hatching stations, scattered say one or two in each 

 county, to do the hatching for those who do not care to do it 

 themselves?" 



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