INCUBATION 



17 



When you receive your incubator study carefully the 

 printed instructions which come with it. Before you start 

 the machine, be sure that you have mastered the instructions 

 and tha,t you know thoroughly what the manufacturer con- 

 siders best as to method of running £^nd location of machine. 



The most important things to consider in selecting the 

 location for machine are freedom from excessive vibration, 

 air free from coal gas or decaying vegetable matter and a 

 solid, level floor on which to set the machine. It is very 

 important that' the body of the incubator be level, other- 

 wise the egg chamber will not heat evenly. 



After studying your instructions carefully and setting 

 the machine in a well ventilated place, but not in a draft, 

 run it empty for a few days until you become thoroughly 

 familiar with every detail, and have the regulating device 

 properly adjusted so as to maintain an even temperature of 

 102i to 103 degrees in the egg chamber. 



After you understand the operation of the machine and 

 can maintain the desired temperature in the empty incubator, 

 the eggs may be put in. 



Eggs for Hatching and Their Care 



The eggs for hatching in an incubator should be just as 

 carefully selected as those for hatching under a hen. They 

 should be from healthy, vigorous breeding stock, of medium 

 size for the variety of fowl producing them, and should be 

 fresh, the fresher the better and should not have been kept 

 for a longer period than two weeks. While saving eggs keep 

 them in a temperature of from 40 to 60 degrees. 



Do not attempt to double up the capacity of the machine 

 by placing eggs on top of a full tray; use only as many as 

 will go in easily. Having the machine running smoothly at 

 the temperature recommended in the manufacturer's direc- 

 tions, place the eggs in it and leave them alone for several 

 hours to warm up, being careful that the temperature does 

 not run above 103 degrees. Follow closely the instructions of 

 the incubator manufacturer as to ventilation, running the 

 lamp with a moderately high flame at the start, and gradu- 

 ally reducing it until, at hatching time you are running the 

 minimum height flame necessary. 



Beginning on the second day the eggs should be turned 

 twice daily; these turnings should be as nearly twelve hours 



apart as possible. The most approved way of turning eggs 

 is to remove them from the center of the tray to the ends 

 and, with the flat of the hand, roll the balance inward toward 

 the center of the tray. At the morning turning, the position 

 of trays should be changed from side to side, and at the night 

 turning, from end to end, so evening up any inequalities of 

 temperature and giving all the eggs an even chance of hatch- 

 ing well. 



Except in extremely warm weather, airing or cooling of 

 the eggs is unnecessary. In very hot weather, when the 

 temperature of the incubator room runs high, the eggs may 

 be cooled from five to fifteen minutes once each day, but we 

 believe it would be better to turn them three times a day in 

 hot weather and give only such cooling and airing as they 

 get while being turned. If the temperature of the egg 

 chamber runs above 104 degrees at any time, it is sometimes 

 well to cool the eggs from five to fifteen minutes. Under 

 ordinary conditions, the eggs are aired and cooled sufiiciently 

 to give best results while they are being turned. 



Eggs should be tested twice during the hatch, the first; 

 test being made on from the 6th to the 10th day, the secon'd 

 on the 14th or 18th day. At the first test remove from the 

 trays all infertile eggs and dead germs. Mark those which 

 are doubtful and let them remain in the machine until the 

 second test; if they do not develop before that time they 

 should be removed as well as all other dead germs. 



Stop turning the eggs as soon as the chicks begin to 

 break the shells, push the tray back as far as it will go, or if 

 there are two trays, push one back and draw the other forward 

 leaving a space for the chicks to fall into the nursery below. 



Close the machine and let it alone until the hatch is 

 over. If it has been regulating properly it is perfectly safe 

 to leave it and it will do no harm if the temperature runs to 

 105 degrees when the chicks are hatching, but it should not 

 go higher. 



When all the chitks have hatched, the ventilators should 

 be thrown wide open, egg trays and shells removed from the 

 machine and the door left open a little about the width of a 

 common match. Allow the chicks to remain in the machine 

 from 24 to 36 hours after hatching, then remove to the 

 brooder which should be running properly before they are 

 placed in it. 



THE ENVIRONMENT POR INCUBATORS 



FRESH AIR AND SUNLIGHT ARE AS ESSENTIAL FOR THE PRO- 

 CESSES OF INCUBATION AS THE CORRECT DEGREE OF HEAT 



H. A. NOURSE 



THERE is no question but we have good incubators — 

 machines that will do their part if the operator will 

 provide proper environment, give them necessary 

 care and furnish good eggs. The fact that any hatch at all 

 is secured where the operators are careless of everything 

 but the machine itself, is a telling recommendation of the 

 present day hatchers. 



Aside from the proper control of heat in the machine, 

 nothing is of greater importance than a favorable condition 

 of the surrounding air. Oxygen is a necessary factor in 

 success and must be provided. To shut an incubator in a 

 small, dark room where to confine the heat every door and 

 window is shut tightly, or to place it in a dark, musty cellar, 

 where but little fresh air enters from autumn to spring, is 

 to deprive yourself of its benefits. 



Sunlight is one of the best air purifiers and germ de- 

 stroyers, but should not be allowed to shine through the 

 glass doors of the machine. For this reason few cellars are 



fit for incubator rooms; yet, when one has ventilation suffi- 

 cient to keep the air pure at all times and windows above 

 ground through which the sunlight may shine, it is the very 

 best location for a machine, because the temperature will be 

 less variable than in a room or building that is wholly above 

 ground. In the absence of these conditions an ordinary 

 room in a dwelling, without heat, will be found best adapted 

 to th,e requirements of those who do not need or cannot 

 afford a building especially for this purpose. 



Ventilation may be secured and controlled by dropping 

 the windows at the top and raising them at the bottom, pre- 

 . venting a draft in severe or rough weather by inserting 

 cloth-covered frames in the open spaces. By having these 

 frames in two or three sizes and one or more windows the 

 situation may be thoroughly mastered. 



It is a fact that small buildings designed for the pur- 

 pose do not, as a rule, provide the favorable conditions de- 

 scribed, therefore are not very satisfactory. Of those above 



