November, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



323 



The Fattening of Fowls in France 



By Jacques Boyer 



jNTIL a few years ago, French poultry raisers 

 confined their attention to setting their hens 

 and giving a little care to the young chicks ; 

 but now the farmers of Normandy and 

 Bresse have learned to appreciate the ad- 

 vantages of the method of artificial incuba- 

 tion, which is continually being improved. 



Among the types of incubator most popular in France 

 may be mentioned one which consists simply of a cylindrical 

 vessel with double walls of metal, inclosed in a square wooden 



and trimmed night and morning. The moisture required for 

 a good hatch is maintained by a bed of moist sand from three- 

 quarters to an inch and one-half thick, on which the eggs rest. 

 There are tubes and cocks for filling and emptying the reser- 

 voir, and holes in the bottom of the incubator permit the 

 escape of any excess of water and of the carbonic acid which 

 is produced during the embryonic life of the chicks. 



The moist sand is employed in order to prevent the drying 

 and hardening of the soft white membrane which lines the 

 shell of the egg. Without this precaution the chick would 



A French Establishment where Fowls are Hatched and Fattened for Market 



box. Two glazed sashes, which form the top of the ap- 

 paratus, allow the successive phases of incubation to be 

 observed. To prevent loss of heat, the space between the 

 metal cylinder and the box is packed tightly with sawdust. 

 The eggs lie on movable trays in the middle of the cylinder. 

 The incubators are placed in rows on benches about sixteen 

 inches high, in a fairly well lighted room where they are not 

 subjected to vibrations. 



The eggs, if soiled, are washed carefully before they are 

 placed in the apparatus, the temperature of which, as indi- 

 cated by the attached thermometer, is kept between 39 de- 

 grees and 40 degrees centigrade, by means of a " thermo- 

 siphon " regulator heated by a kerosene lamp, which is filled 



not be able to pierce the membrane at the moment of hatch- 

 ing and would die of asphyxiation. 



During the entire period of incubation it is necessary, as 

 Mons. C. R. Thomas informs us, in his excellent work, " Les 

 Poussins" ("Chicks"), to "play the hen" (" faire les 

 convenses ") ; or, in other words, to turn the eggs over and 

 test their temperature and the dampness of the sand every 

 twelve hours. 



The attendant reads the thermometer through the glass 

 cover, opens the sashes, takes out the trays of eggs and allows 

 them to cool for fifteen or twenty minutes, during which 

 interval he examines the sand and throws a glass or two of 

 water on it if it seems too dry. Then he turns the eggs and 



