NEW YORK, MARCH 24, 1894. 
PRICE, THREE CENTS 
Si.00 PER YEAR. 
VOL. LIII. No. 2304. 
A HOME MADE INCUBATOR. 
now TO MAKE A WOODEN HEN. 
So Plainly Described That it Will Make Itself. 
With the farmer, the most profitable product of the 
poultry yard is eggs. For greatest yield from a given 
number of fowls, Minorcas or Leghorns should be 
kept the Minorca being even better than the Leg¬ 
horn as an egg producer. These breeds are non-sitters, 
making it necessary to use hens of some of the heavier 
breeds as mothers, unless an incubator be used, which 
will be found far more satisfactory. After several 
years’ experience with incubators, ranging in size 
from 75 to 300 eggs in capacity, I have found that the 
best, all things considered, is a homemade one of 100- 
egg capacity. This incubator is simple in construc¬ 
tion, inexpensive, and I have several times hatched 
more than 90 per cent of the fertile eggs. 
Fig. 1 shows the incubator complete with the outer 
door open. Fig. 2 shows it with the top and front re¬ 
moved, showing the position of the tank, 
egg tray and boiler. The figures on the 
in the cleats upon which the tank is to rest, six inches 
from the top, and the cleats on which the egg tray 
rests, six inches below these, see T, Figs. 2 and 5. 
You are now ready to put in the front. The outer 
door O should be eight inches wide by 25 long, hinged 
to drop down; this door is double, the inside being one- 
half inch smaller on all sides to make a flange, see O, 
Figs. 1 and 5. The sides of the legs will serve as stops 
for the ends, but the top and bottom must have strips 
as shown in Fig. 5; between these strips, fasten the 
inner door, II. This door is 7 by 18 inches and should 
be a glazed sash door, but may be solid if preferred. 
Have stops at top and bottom, but none at the sides, 
as they would interfere with the egg tray. The stop 
at the top of H is also the cleat on which the tank 
rests, 1 , Fig. 5. For fastening this door, which is also 
hinged at the bottom, use a small button at the top. 
Above the door, the outside is nailed on. Put in the 
back cleat T and all is ready to put the tank in place. 
The latter should fit snugly so that the sawdust pack¬ 
wood three inches wide by five inches long. S is one 
of two screws, one to be used at each end. 
Material and Cost. 
The most satisfactory material for the case is Georgia 
pine. Use narrow ceiling boards, inches wide, 
double beaded for the sides, back, top and front; for 
the bottom, one-inch matched white pine. About .S4 
will be saved in cost of construction if one is able to 
make the tank. It is important that it should have no 
leaks in it; therefore, if one is not handy with the 
soldering iron, it may be best to have it made by a 
tinsmith—the usual cost is $5. In the following 
estimate merely the cost of material is given : 
One OeorKla pine fence rail, 12 feet lonx, 2 by 4 Inches square.tO.lR 
Six (ieorKla pine boards, IH feet Iodk, RH Inches wide. 1.20 
Two white pine boards. 14 feet long 8 Inches wide.70 
One sheet galvanized Iron. 1.00 
One piece copper, 7 Inches sciuaie .10 
Ulnges and screws.50 
One lb. wire elghtpenny, 1 lb. sixpenny, and 1 lb. wire lath nails.. .15 
Glass for Inner door.20 
Total.14.08 
I have not estimated cost of putty, 
solder, muriatic acid used in soldering 
left represent inches; it is two inches 
from the top of the incubator to the 
tank ; the tank is four inches deep ; from 
the bottom of the tank to the egg tray is 
four inches ; the egg tray is two inches; 
the space under the egg tray, three 
inches, and the bottom boards are one 
inch thick. Fig. 3 is a top view showing 
the position of the tank, boiler C, top of 
legs L, stays M and sawdust packing K. 
Fig. 4 shows the tank and boiler. The 
tank is 18 by 24 inches square, by four 
inches deep, to be made of galvanized 
iron. The boiler is six inches in diameter 
by six deep, connected with the tank by 
two one-inch pipes, E and F ; these pipes 
are made by rolling pieces of the galvan¬ 
ized iron into tubes and soldering them 
at the joints; they are five inches long. 
The boiler, except the bottom, is made 
of galvanized iron ; the bottom is copper. 
D is a faucet. .A is a ventilating tube 
two inches in diameter, extending 
through the tank. J3 is a filling tube 
one inch in diameter, five inches long, 
and soldered into the top of the tank. A 
should extend 33^ inches above the top 
of the tank. D, E and F just enter the 
tank; there is no inside work in the 
latter. 
galvanized iron, or varnish; these may 
cost $1 more, making the total cost for 
materials about $5, or by having the 
tank built by a tinsmith, $9. The in¬ 
cubator may be made to look as well as 
any of the high-priced machines, by fin¬ 
ishing nicely, where any edges are ex¬ 
posed, with half round molding of the 
same width as the thickness of the 
boards on the case, and by using brass 
hinges and brass fastener on the outside 
door—see Q, Figs. 1 and 5. Around the 
filling tube make a neat wooden collar 
and paint this black, also the ventilator. 
Fig. 8 ; give the whole two coats of good 
varnish, and you have an incubator to 
be proud of. The legs are three feet long. 
Lamps and Heat. 
The lamp is very important. I have 
used several, but the best thus far 
is the hydro safety lamp, shown in 
Fig. 1. The heat of the flame is kept 
uniform by a circulation of water 
around the wick; this circulation is from 
the boiler through the tubes shown in 
the cut. (The lamp is made and sold by 
L. R. Oakes, Bloomington, Ind,) In 
Fig. 2 is shown the Little Queen oil 
stove, which has also been very satisfac- 
Fig. 5 shows the boiler end of the in¬ 
cubator, giving the position of the doors 
G and H. JT is a 2 by 4 inch piece of 
wood cut down to receive E and F. The manner of 
fastening the legs, L, together is shown at U. I is a 
piece of board one inch thick, three wide, by 22 inches 
long; 15 inches below the tops of the legs, mortices 
are cut into them to receive the ends of i, see U. I is 
securely nailed into L L. Be sure that the legs are 
perfectly square, or things will get all askew to begin 
with. The other pair of legs is fastened in the same 
way, the bottom is now nailed to 11, see J J ; this 
will be 22 by 28 inches square with two-inch-square 
corners cut out to fit around the legs. After the bot¬ 
tom is on, stand the skeleton on its legs, square it per- 
A Homemade Incubator Fig 58. 
ing, K, will not sift into the egg chamber ; the top of 
the tank must also be covered with'sawdust two 
inches deep. The boiler should be surrounded by a 
box or case, which will be easily understood by look¬ 
ing at Fi^s. 1, 2 and 3. The top should be cleated to¬ 
gether as one piece, and extend one-half inch over or 
beyond the outside of the case on all sides as shown 
in Fig. 1. Holes should be cut in the proper places 
for A and B. 
Fig. 6 shows the egg tray; it is of two parts; the 
rim X is two inches high by one-half inch thick, and 
is fastened to the bottom Y with six screws Z, The 
tory, but gives some smell of oil when 
burning ; the basin above the oil should 
be filled with water. (This lamp is made 
by the Central Oil Gas Stove Company, of New York.) 
Next to the lamps, an accurate thermometer is neces¬ 
sary ; a tested incubator thermometer may be pur¬ 
chased from any of the incubator manufacturers at 
from 50 to 75 cents. No regulator is used on this in¬ 
cubator ; the heat is governed entirely by turning the 
wick up or down, and I find this to be perfectly satis¬ 
factory. I once had a self-regulating incubator, but 
found it no easier to control the heat; a very slight 
turn of the wick screw either way will raise or lower 
the temperature sufficiently, the operator will soon 
learn how much to turn the wick for desired change of 
fectly, and nail on the ends, back and lower part of 
the front; put in N and M M for back and left end. 
The incubator is now ready for the lining, which 
should be of galvanized iron, two pieces 19 by 10 inches 
for the ends, and one piece 24 by 10 inches for the 
back. These are nailed to strips fitting on the bottom 
between the legs, ends and back, and the ends to 
short strips nailed against the legs, see L in Fig. 
Between this lining and the outside, pack sawdust 
firmly, being careful not to bulge the lining. Fasten 
bottom is made of %-inch pine, with three slats F, 
extending across the narrow way. Two wires W 
are stretched across the long way; to this frame 
tack on the edges heavy muslin for the bottom of the 
tray, then place it in the rim as in Fig. 7, and fasten 
with the screws. This muslin bottom is to be renewed 
as often as it becomes foul. The egg tray should be 
scant 18 by 24 inches so as to slide in and out of the 
incubator without binding. Fig. 8 shows the slide 
for closing the ventilating tube; it may be made of 
temperature. 
Directions for Running. 
The best place to run an incubator is in a cellar, 
there being less change in temperature. B’ill the tank 
with water, light the lamp with full flame, place the 
thermometer with bulb in center of egg tray ; it takes 
several hours to heat up. When the thermometer 
registers 102 degrees, turn down the flame sufficiently 
to hold the temperature steady ; this requires a little 
practice. It is best to run the incubator without eggs 
