24 METHOD TO BE USED 



and size to buy. The answer to this question is : 

 Buy a good one, and let the size be governed by the 

 faciHties at hand to obtain the hatching eggs and 

 the raising of the chicks. 



It would be folly for a small back yard poultry- 

 man with only a small flock of, say, a dozen hens 

 to buy a 300 or 400 capacity machine, and it would 

 be equally imprudent for a man with 100 or 200 

 hens to purchase an incubator with a capacity of 

 only fifty or sixty eggs. A small poultry raiser 

 with a small flock would be compelled to save his 

 eggs too long to fill one of the larger machines. 

 Eggs may be safely kept for hatching for a period 

 of two weeks, providing they are turned each day; 

 but to obtain the best result from the hatches I 

 would not advise setting eggs older than this. 



Where hens are to be used for this work care 

 must also be exercised in the selection of such hens. 

 The disposition of some hens is such that they oft- 

 times are poorer hatchers than the worst incubator 

 made. Some hens are unreliable, sit on the nest 

 for a few days, only to forsake it again ; and some 

 hens are so clumsy and awkward they break the 

 eggs. 



Never select a wild hen; the tame ones make 

 better setters and mothers. It is not advisable to 

 select the large, feathered leg varieties for setters, 

 nor birds crossed with the nonsetting varieties. 

 Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes, 



