EGGS AXD IXCUBATIOy 



495 



ally the amount of incoming pure air. A thermometer 

 within may be read through the glass front. Incubators 



should stand level, and a popular 

 location in which to operate them 

 is a dry cellar that will maintain 

 a uniform temperature. 



The artificial process of incu- 

 bation in the incubator requires 

 one to look carefully after the 

 following features of importance. 

 These are location, temperature, 

 ventilation, and moisture, and 

 Figure 238— A standard incu- turning and airing the eggs. The 



bator and lamp. Photograph ^ *^ '^^ 



from Ohio State University. following disCUSsioU of theSe fact- 



ors is abstracted from writings by Professor F.S. Jacoby,head 

 of the Poultry Department at the Ohio State University.* 



The location of the incubator may have a decided influ- 

 ence upon the number of chicks hatched. Heretofore the 

 usual recommendation has been to locate the incubator in 

 a cellar that maintains a more or less uniform temperature. 

 With the improvement of the mechanical parts of the incu- 

 bator, this reason for location is not so important as it used 

 to be. The important point is pure air. The room, whether 

 a cellar or not, should be so arranged that both the heavy 

 gases near the floor and the light odors near the ceiling have 

 a means of being dispelled. If the air in the room is impure, 

 the air in the incubator will be even more so. The uni- 

 formity of temperature in a cellar is a decided help in the 

 operation of the incubator, but it is better to have a room 

 with a variable temperature, if the air is purer thereby. The 

 most satisfactory results are obtained in a room having a 

 cement or dirt floor, with a temperature of 60 to 70° F. 



Temperature. The normal incubation temperature of 

 hen eggs is 103° F. The position of the thermometer will 



*Artifirial Incubation of Chickens, Bulletin 16, Vol. XV, Agricultural Extension 

 Service, Ohio State University. 



