CHAPTER II 



INCUBATION AND INCUBATORS 



NATURAL. AND ARTIFICIAL HATCHING DISCUSSED— HOW TO SET A HEN— HOW 

 TO USE AN INCUBATOR— EGGS FOR HATCHING AND THEIR PROPER CARE 



P. T. WOODS, M. D. 



T IS conceded to day that the incubator 

 is a necessary part of the equipment of 

 all up-to-date poultry plants. They are 

 ready to set at any season, take care of a 

 liberal quota of eggs and, when properly 

 handled, are reliable hatchers. In Feb- 

 ruary and March when broody hens are 

 scarce, the incubator must be relied 

 upon to produce chicks in sufficient num- 

 bers to economize on the labor of rearing 

 them. 



It may seem trite to the experienced 

 poultryman to be told how to set a hen 

 but, judging from our correspondence, 

 there are still a number who want to be 

 told the best way. One of the first things to l-earn is the 

 wisdom of the old saying, "Don't count your chickens before 

 they are hatched." This applies to both natural and artificial 

 hatching. One hundred per cent hatches are exceptions, not 

 the rule. A veteran poultry keeper in Lynn, Massachusetts, 

 once told the writer that he had set many hundreds of hens 

 and had kept a record year after year. He found that with- 

 out the record he always remembered the hatches that gave 

 him fifteen chicks from fifteen eggs, but failed to recall the 

 many times that hens hatched half or less than half of the 

 eggs given to them. He told us that his records showed that 

 six or eight chicks from thirteen eggs could be considered 

 good average hatching; this with eggs under hens and good 

 healthy vigorous breeding stock producing the eggs for hatch- 

 ing. 



How To Set a Hen 



In choosing a broody hen select one with a quiet dispo- 

 sition that clings closely to the nest. Nervous, flighty birds 

 that sit standing are not only a nuisance but they often break 

 or spoil the eggs and lose the entire clutch. Let the broody 

 hen occupy the nest of her own selection for two or three 

 days, until you are satisfied that she is fixed in her determina- 

 tion to sit. 



It is always well to set two, four or more hens at one 

 time. Make the hatching boxes to accommodate two to four 

 hens. A very satisfactory nest box is shown in the accom- 

 panying illustration. Such nests can be readily made from 

 waste lumber or packing boxes. When made in units of two 

 nests, of about the same dimensions, they are convenient to 

 handle and can be arranged in tiers along the walls of the 

 rooms or building used for sitters. Inside measurements of 

 each nest should be 12 inches wide, 14 inches deep and 14 

 inches high. The front is boarded up 4 inches from the bot- 

 tom to keep in nesting material. Wooden looks like the one 

 marked "L" in the illustration are used to hold the slatted 

 front locked in position. 



We prefer the nests filled in the bottom with a little 

 moist loam or an inverted sod. Pack the earth into the 

 corners of the nest and dish out the center a little to make 

 the nest a shallow concave, but do not dish out too much as 

 the eggs are liable to roll to the center and be broken by the 



hen. The concave of a nest should be just sufiicient to keep 

 the eggs from rolling out from under the hen. On the moist- 

 earth scatter a little tobacco dust or some tobacco stems, 

 then add a thin layer of soft hay or cut straw. Soft "cow" 

 hay or oat straw makes the best and most lasting nests. 

 Put in a few china nest eggs to try out the hen. Go over her 

 thoroughly dusting with Persian insect powder (pyrethrum) 

 working the powder well into the feathers, being particular 

 to give the rump, wings and head a liberal dusting. 



Place the hen on her new nest at night, allow her to re- 

 main undisturbed until just before dark the next day, then. 



Double nest box for sitting bens. "L" indi- 

 cates detail of wooden latches which are used on 

 top of box to hold slatted front in position. It 

 is shown on end of box for convenience only. 



take her off for food and water and give her an opportunity 

 to go back to the nest of her own accord. Repeat this the- 

 next day and until she shows a disposition to stick. Tiien 

 give her the eggs allowing no more than she can cover com- 

 fortably. The usual number of eggs to a clutch are eleven, 

 thirteen and fifteen according to the size of the hen and the- 

 season of the year. A good mother will usually be ready for 

 the eggs the first or second night after being placed on the- 

 nest. Always set the hens in pairs, two, four, six, or more- 

 at one time and at the end of seven days test out the infertile- 

 eggs. If the fertility should run low, leaving only a few eggs 

 under each hen, divide the fertile eggs into clutches of eleven 

 or thirteen eggs each under one hen and re-set the others. 

 When a hen is set with two or more others, coming off at tW 

 same time, the broods can be doubled up and the odd hens 

 re-set; it will not hurt them to spend six or seven weeks in- 

 cubating. 



Choosing an Incubator 



In choosing an incubator be sure to get a machine of suf- 

 ficient capacity to meet your requirements. It is much bet- 

 ter to be obliged to set 50 eggs in a 100 egg machine than to 

 have 100 eggs you want to hatch and only a 50-egg machine- 

 to put them in. 



In deciding what incubator to buy, try to get the f»ir 

 and unbiased opinion of a man who is a successful incubator 

 operator; find out what kind of machines other successful 

 breeders use and learn the results obtained by them; study- 

 carefully the testimonials of people who have successfully 

 used the machine. If you do this, and are guided by your 

 own best judgment you cannot go wrong. 



