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Chapter IV. 
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. 
Artificial incubation is now a thoroughly well established fact. A vast amount of thought and invention 
have been devoted to the production and improvement of Incubators which will with certainty give highly 
satisfactory results if handled in an intelligent manner. The best of the machines, if given proper attention, 
will give a much higher percentage of chickens than a number of hens sitting on the same number o( eggs, 
there beinii so many uncertainties in connection with the management of sitting hens. Thus, an Incubator, 
say, of IDG-egg capacity could be managed easier and better than 8 or y hens, which would be recjuired to 
cover the number of eggs stated, and one or more should be part of the working plant of any well-managed 
Poultry Farm. Hatching chickens by Incubators has many and weighty advantages over the natural method, 
doing away with the bother and expense attached to obtaining sitting hens, which at times are \ irtually 
impossible to obtain, the Incubator being ready "to sit " at any time, and chickens obtained and reared at a 
period of the year which, under other circumstances, would be almost an impossibility. Again, many 
valuable eggs that are thin or weak-shelled may with safety be hatched by an Incubator, which if given to a 
hen would certainly run great risk of breakage, as often a hen will accidentally crush the eggs on the point of 
hatching if the eggs should happen to be thin-shelled. This is obviated by using an Incubator. Still 
another solid reason for the use of an Incubator is that the chickens will be free from parasites, and that 
worst of all chicken pests, the tick ; and as the rearing of the chickens by the aid of a foster mother is not 
surrounded by any great difficulties, it will be seen that, under most circumstances, the use of Incubators is 
superior to the natural method. We leave the instructions concerning the rearing of the chickens by the aid 
of a foster mother to be fully explained and illustrated in Chapter VL on the feeding, rearing, and manage- 
ment of chickens. 
Where a large number of chickens are required annually, an Incubator will be found a most profitable 
investment, and if non-sitting breeds are kept, such as Andalusians, Spanish, Hamburgs, Minorcas, 
Leghorns, etc., an Incubator becomes a necessity. 
As before mentioned in Chap. III., on natural incubation, we remarked on the advisability of selecting 
perfectly fresh eggs, or those under 7 days old, if intended to be hatched by the machine. The essential 
features necessary to produce chickens hatched by this method are fertilk eggs, which must be fresh, 
requisite heat, air, and moisture, all in the proper proportion. Taking the eggs as being perfectly fresh, their 
fertility can be discovered in a few days by the method of testing, fully described in Chap. III. on 
natural incubation. 
We will now proceed to explain the desired heat required. It will be found that on placing a correct 
thermometer under the breast of a sitting hen the heat registered will be 103 degrees Fahrenheit, or, perhaps, 
a fraction of a degree higher. To obtain the correct reading of a thermometer intended to be used, whether 
too high or too low, as they vary considerably, the following plan will be found absolutely the best : — As is 
well known, the blood or natural heat of the human body in perfect health is 98 '4° — ninety-eight degrees 
fraction 4 — or nearly 99 degrees Fahrenheit. By placing the bulb of the thermometer under the pit of the 
arm, and against the naked skin, closely pressing to the body for a few minutes, and then taken out and 
read, will quickly demonstrate whether it is registering too high or too low, and if found incoryect, the 
difference, whether under or over, can be at once marked. Thus, if on testing in this manner it registered 
100 degrees, or a fraction of a degree less, the heat inside the Incubator on top of the eggs and 
touching them should read between 105 and 106 degrees. On the other hand, if it registers but 94 
