1913. 
409 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
CUSTOM HATCHING FOR CHICKS. 
During the past few years a new poultry 
business has been developed—that of 
“custom hatching” on a large scale. We 
have had many questions from people who 
want to know how such a business is con¬ 
ducted, so we asked an expert hatcher 
to tell the story: 
The mammoth incubator is composed of 
a series of compartments heated from a 
common source. The coal burning stove, 
using hot water as the medium for con¬ 
ducting heat has eliminated the danger of 
destroying the germ of life in the egg 
from kerosene lamps and its attending 
fumes. See cut below. Here’s the way it 
works out. Mr. A writes the hatchery he 
will send a certain number of eggs to be 
hatched. The hatchery notifies the express 
agents in his town of it. They must be 
expecting it as the eggs may come in a 
barrel and be left on the platform in 
zero weather or Summer heat. On arrival 
the hatchery is notified and within an 
hour the shipment is in the receiving room. 
The eggs are taken from their containers, 
tested for cracks, cleansed when dirty and 
method of packing noted. The result of 
these investigations is written on an index 
card which is then placed on a settling 
rack. Then the eggs are placed in the rack 
and sprayed with a germicide which does 
not injure the egg but kills any vermin 
closed, tied and sealed, and taken the 
express office. Immediately upon taking 
the chicks out of the incubator the com¬ 
partment is scrubbed with hot water and 
soap, rinsed with cold water and thorough¬ 
ly sprayed with a good germicide. Thus 
no disease can get a foothold. 
Several poultry farms have us do all their 
hatching. Some of these breeders sell day- 
old chicks and have us ship the chicks di¬ 
rect to their customers who are in many 
cases many hundred miles distant. 
One man operates our incubator and at¬ 
tends to the eggs from the time they are 
received to the time the chicks are shipped. 
There is no kerosene for any purpose, in 
or about our incubators. We have now 
space for over 182,000 eggs reserved in 
our machines, and will probably hatch 
around 300,000 eggs this year. The best 
way to send eggs is to line an ordinary 
30-dozen crate with 10 thicknesses of news¬ 
paper, then fill the bottom cartons and 
fill in with whole oats. Do not use bran or 
any other powdered substance, as dust and 
fine particles will obstruct the pores of 
the shell. Sawdust often has oils, acids, 
or pitch which will injure the eggs. Cover 
each carton with 10 thicknesses of news¬ 
paper and repeat till crate is full. If 
eggs have to be saved for some days to get 
the 150 to fill a compartment, limit that 
time to 10 days or two weeks, and turn 
them once daily. 
Patented Hens’ Nests. 
A few weeks ago a reader asked about 
the “Natural Hen Incubator.” Having had 
no experience with this form of hen’s nest 
we said so. To show how closely readers 
follow statements made in The R. N.-Y. 
we can report nearly a dozen references 
to this question. The “incubator” appears 
HOT WATER HEATED INCUBATOR. 
which may be present. These racks are 
then taken to the settling room where the 
temperature is kept as near 50 degrees 
as possible. They lie here undisturbed for 
12 hours, then the entire rack and con¬ 
tents are inverted and left for another 12 
hours. This 24 hours of quiet allows the 
eggs to “settle” after the extreme vibra¬ 
tion and possible rough handling in tran¬ 
sit. 
At the end of this time the eggs are 
placed in sterile trays holding 75 eggs each 
by an operator whose hands have pre¬ 
viously been washed in an antiseptic solu¬ 
tion, and taken to the incubator cellar, 
where they are placed, two trays (150 eggs) 
to a compartment, in the incubator, the in¬ 
dex card being fastened outside. This card is 
now given the number of the compartment. 
It also shows at a glance the name and 
address of the owner of the eggs, shipping 
instructions for the chicks, date the eggs 
arrived, through what express company, 
date placed in the incubator, date hatch is 
due, whether or not they are to be tested, 
and when, and whether or not any are to 
bo pedigreed. From now on a constant 
vigil is maintained. 
If we are instructed to test the eggs, the 
operation is done at C p. in. during the 
turning time by the means of our own elec¬ 
tric testing apparatus. A tray of 75 eggs 
is tested by us in 1 minutes, bad eggs 
removed and a record of the result made 
on the index card. 
After the eggs have been in the incuba¬ 
tor 24 hours and up to the eighteenth, 
nineteenth or twentieth day, depending 
upon breed and conditions, they are 
turned twice daily, 6 a. m. and 6 p. m. 
The compartment is now closed till four 
or five hours after the hatch is over, when 
it is opened and a large part of the egg 
shells removed. The three factors of heat, 
moisture and fresh air are now of the ut¬ 
most importance. Heat must be maintained 
at a proper and diminishing temperature, 
that the chicks be not chilled. Moisture 
must be kept at correct degree, that the 
yolk on the down of the chick will remain 
soluble; fresh air kept in circulation that 
the chick may breathe easily and to re¬ 
move any foul odors from themselves, the 
unhatched eggs, and the broken shells. 
After 12 to 72 hours, depending upon 
existing conditions, the chicks are ready 
for shipment. New, clean boxes are brought 
to the cellar. Clover chaff is spread on 
the bottom of the box and the chicks 
counted out. The box holds 100 chicks in 
groups of 25. The result of the hatch is 
noted on the index card. The box is 
to be a comfortable box or nest for setting 
one or more hens. It is said to be pat¬ 
ented, but we can see nothing remarkable 
about it. We think there are many farm¬ 
ers’ wives who could take a hatchet and 
nails and pound together an “incubator” 
that would do as well as this one. Among 
the letters sent us is one from a man who 
offers to sell his “plans” at half price. 
Still another comes from this friend of hu¬ 
manity : 
I see in The R. N.-Y. that a party asks 
about the Natural Hen Incubator. I paid 
a dollar for these plans and I will send 
them to you; they may save some one else 
a few dollars. They are nothing but a 
hatching box. Anyone can set a hen if he 
happens to have one to set. F. M. 
New Jersey. 
The usual scheme with these things is 
to sell a set of plans. The owner threatens 
a serious lawsuit against any one who 
uses these plans without first buying them 
from some “authorized agent.” 
That “Tolman” Open Front House. 
It is possible that Mr. Tolman built open- 
front houses using certain theories in their 
construction, but it is hardly probable 
that he originated the house. It is very 
improbable that any one ever originated 
an open-front house for poultry; it was 
just the natural and rational method of 
construction for a mild climate, and, from 
all I have been able to learn, has been in 
use in the Gulf States from the time poul¬ 
try was first sheltered from the elements. 
I have seen in the country a few times a 
rude roofing of planks in a tree to protect 
chickens from rain in Winter, but the aver¬ 
age house is a roof and a north wall; the 
three sides slatted or wired, or the north, 
east and west walls tight and the south 
slatted, the slats being used as a protection, 
not from the elements but from two and 
four legged coons and other “varmints.” 
The conditions in a mild climate make any¬ 
thing but an open front, or open everything 
but back, house very undesirable; and back 
ventilation in the Summer is also desirable. 
Knowing nothing of northern conditions, it 
would be to say the least, unwise to com¬ 
ment on the good or bad points of the 
Tolman house in such section; yet, if Mr. 
Tolman has put a good house before the 
Northern poultrymen he should be given 
due credit for its introduction, but should 
hardly take credit for originating some¬ 
thing which was beyond a reasonable doubt 
In existence before he was. He probably 
saw or learned of the method of housing 
in mild sections and took a try at it, and 
finding it looked good to him, passed it 
along. m. a. p. 
Alabama. 
R. N.-Y.—The Tolman house—tight and 
warm on all sides but the front, is a very 
different thing from any southern slatted 
house. Mr. Tolman demonstrated the prin¬ 
ciple of an airtight “open-front” for cold 
climates. 
MANLOVE GATE 
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STRONGEST FENCE MADE 
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POULTRY FENCE 
m Cents a rod for 48-inch fence. 
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Two 
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The filling of thi 3 serviceable and ornamental gate is 
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The best lumber dealer in your town has these 
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4 i 
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SEESESMEEGES 
Heaviest Fence Made 
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milts 
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American Steel & Wire Company 
Chicago, Sew York, Cleveland, Plltsbnrgt, Denver I 
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