24 CHICKS 



turers send out with each machine should guide the new 

 operator, at least until such time as experience shall prove 

 that different handling of the machine will produce better 

 results under the particular conditions to which his incubator 

 is subjected. This refers to matters of ventilation and 

 moisture in particular. 



Taking Off a Hatch. 



It is unwise to make haste to remove the chicks from the 

 incubator even after the hatch is completed. A good hatch 

 is almost always finished at the end of the twenty-first day, 

 and the trays, shells and unhatched eggs should be removed. 

 The chicks may remain in the incubator twenty-four to 

 thirty-six hours longer with advantage to themselves and 

 convenience to the poultryman. To remove the chicks from 

 an incubator in which the temperature is above one hun- 

 dred to a brooder having a temperature of ninety-five, and in 

 which there are likely to be currents of air, is to invite 

 trouble from the very first. Even if the brooder tempera- 

 ture is as high as that of the incubator from which the chicks 

 are removed, the tempering off process cannot be as success- 

 fully performed as in the incubator. 



When the trays are removed, the temperature can be 

 gradually reduced to ninety or ninety-five degrees during the 

 following thirty-six hours. The chicks may then be removed 

 to the brooder with the least chance of loss from influences 

 incident to the change, and they will be stronger and better 

 chicks. For removing to the brooder, especially if it is 

 necessary to carry them from one building to another, a 

 basket lined with flannel is to be advised, and if the weather 

 is severe, the basket should be wrapped with a bran sack 

 for additional protection. 



There are various kinds of brooding apparatus in use, 

 most of which give satisfaction if the care-taker under- 

 stands his work and gives it the required attention. The 

 principal requirements are: ability to furnish the proper 

 degree of heat at all times, freedom from drafts under the 

 hover and sufficient ventilation so that each chick will 

 obtain plenty of fresh air in whatever part of the brooder he 

 may be. Some poultrymen prefer pipe system brooders, 

 that is, those heated by a system of pipes through which 



