RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



When the hatch is well under way a little more air should! 

 be allowed to circulate in the egg-chamber, and a part ot the 

 evaporating surface can be removed, for as each duckling 

 makes its appearance he becomes a little sponge, until dried 

 off, and furnishes plenty of moisture for the machine. When 

 nearly dried off the duckling should be dropped into the nurs- 

 ery below the egg-trays. While hatching, the eggs should be 

 kept pipped side up in the trays, as the birds sometimes get 

 smothered when the orifice is underneath. The dry birds 

 should be dropped below about once in four hours, for, if al- 

 lowed to accumulate, they will roll the egg upside down, crowd 

 the egg-shells over the pipped eggs, or pile themselves over 

 the egg, smothering the young birds. 



This work should be done very quickly, so as not to de- 

 range the temperature of the machine. Be sure to keep the 



Fleure 10. — Egg after Uth Day. 



heat up in your machine, for its tendency is always to go down 

 during hatching, for the reason that the egg radiates a great 

 deal of heat, while the little duckling, with its woolly covering 

 (which is a non-conductor), retains it. Many people advocate 

 allowing the little fledglings to remain with the eggs until all 

 are hatched, but this is all wrong, not only for the above rea- 

 sons, but for one which is far more important than either. 



The amount of heat requisite to hatch the eggs is too 

 much for the young birds already hatched and dried off. With 

 chamber at 102 degrees, they will be seen crowding around 

 the sides of the machine with their bills wide open, gasping 

 for breath, when, had they been placed below, the proper tem- 

 perature can be maintained in both, as the bottom of machine 

 runs at least five degrees lower than the egg-trays. 



[ 58 ] 



