12 HOW TO HATCH, BROOD, FEED AND PREVENT 



cubatioD. At the end of the first week I open them a little more, and 

 every day or two I open a little more until at the end of the second week 

 they are wide open — except the one on top — and continue so until the end 

 of the hatch. The two inch ventilator on top I begin to open at pipping 

 time, just a little at first and more as I see it is necessary. Incubators 

 that haven't enough ventilation can be reconstructed by putting in extra 

 ventilators and made to do good work. The four ventilators in the bottom 

 of the incubator should be left open all the time with a piece of cupped 

 tin over them. This piece of tin should be about four inches long and 

 three inches wide and cupped just a little so the air can enter the egg 

 chamber. This tin gives the air a chance to get warm before it reaches 

 the eggs. I have hatched chicks by the thousand according to the direc- 

 tions I have marked out to you, and so can you if you will do just as I have 

 told you. 



Moisture and When to Introduce It 



A PEW days before your incubator is due to hatch, take a piece of 

 loosely woven burlap or coffee sack, wash it perfectly clean and 

 scald. After it dries press it and cut it just the size of the bottom 

 of your incubator. Hem it all around so the little chicks will not tangle in 

 the ravelings. Now if you have any ventilators in the bottom of your 

 machine (which you should have), make a hole in the burlap just over the 

 ventilators and buttonhole around it, so that the air can pass through 

 into the egg chamber, just the same as if the burlap was not there. 

 As soon as you see four or five eggs pipped remove the trays from the incu- 

 bator and place them on a blanket, then take some lukewarm water and 

 sprinkle your eggs and replace the trays at once. Your thermometer should 

 register 101 degrees before you give your eggs this bath or sprinkling, for 

 this sprinkling will have a tendency to lower the temperature a little. Do 

 not let your thermometer register more than 101, or below 102. At pipping 

 time, after the chicks begin to come out of the shell, dampen burlap men- 

 tioned above with boiling water. Do not make it wet enough to drip. Now 

 remove the trays again. Place the steaming burlap in the bottom of your 

 incubator. Now replace your trays while the burlap is steaming, close 

 your doors, and do not open again for awhile so the eggs will get the full 

 benefit of the steam. Leave this burlap in the bottom of your machine till 

 the hatch is done. This is all the moisture you need to introduce into your 

 machine during the whole hatch unless for some cause the temperature in 

 your incubator should run up to 108 or 110 or higher. You can sometimes 

 save your hatch, or a part of it, if they have not been hot too long, by re- 

 moving the trays from your machine and shower the eggs with warm 



