The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-28
INCUBATORs THAT BEAT HENS.
Automatic and Artificial Arrangements for
Fuzzy Little Orphans.

Fuzzy Little Orphans.
New York sun.
In broad, wire-covered box, with a bottom
of fine earth in a basement window in Liberty
street, is a brood of little chickens, apparently
two or three days old. Their bodies are Gov
cred With yellow ar Black feathers as fine as
tVr, They run about in the most nveIy manner,
peeplng and chipping constantly. Some pick at
the earth and others drink water at a narrow
little trough, holding up their heads to allow
the water to filter down their necks blinking
meantime eomicay Three small boys shouted
with delight when two of the chicks faced each
other, with beaks extended and wings out.
They picked yiciously twice at each other, and
then both ran away with prolonged peepmg.
They are orphans, said pleasant old gen
tleman IN the basement, They were matched
IN an incubator yS5tcfSy-av.'
On one side of the room We're number Of
lncubators. They looked a little like an ice
chest, with glass panels in doors that swung
down by hinges on the lower side. The frame
was about two and half by three and half
feet large, and four feet high over all. AT one
end was a black tin vertical cylinder four inches
IN diameter and a foot high Pipes ran from the
top OF the cylinder through the top of the frame
ana back again under the bottom into the cylin-
der. In the frame between the two series Of
pipes We're number of shallow trays, with
wire cloth bottoms, filled with eggs placed on
end Kerosene lamp sent its heated air into
the cylinder. A bit of clock work could be seen
IN small glass case on top of the frame.
you see there the old man explained, land the
water circulates around over the eggs and back
underneath to the cylinder it cools. That
keeps the eggs warm"
But if the lamp is turned on too highP
just then a large valve revolved in the top Of
the incubator.
"The machine is selfregulatinc When the
temperature rises an electrical connection is
formed that starts the clock work and opens that
valve. When the temperature falls"
Here the old man opened the side doors, and
in minute the valve closed.
when it falls, you see, it closes itself; but
that is not all for, you see, the lamp is turned
up when the valve Closes and down when it
opens"
What is the temperature that matches the
chickens"
From 1922 during the first ten days to 1892
or lO4 for the remaining ten. That automatic
arrangement keeps the variation within one de-
gree
Then all you have to do is to put in the eggs
and light the ampN
NO. After three days the eggs must bo
turned over twice a day. The little shallow
pans, underneath the trays, must be kept full of
water, so that the air will be moist. On the
fourth day the eggs must be examined in tester
and all that remain clear must he removed, be-
cause they will not produce chickens and can
yet be used for cooking. Then they must all be
examined later on to remove any that have died
Still. half an hour daily will keep everything in
order until the nineteenth day, when the chicks
will begin to pick and peep in their efforts to get
out"
Then you have to help them break the
1--WE don't have to do anything of the kind
It's widespread notion that the mother hen has
to help her chicks out of the shells but she
doesn't. After several hours of intermittent
picking the chick makes a small hole through
the she'll Then he rests like man on the wa
ter after a long dive. Then he breaks a line
around to the right and then to the left, resting
at intervals; Finally vigorous plunge liber-
ates him. He is wet and homely then"
The artificial mother is a shallow box with a
perforated metal bottom partly covered with
earth, and two warm-water pipes that kept the
temperature at 98' at first and lower later on.
Pieces of flannel hung over the pipes and down
near to the bottom of the box. The chicks
gather under the flannel as they would under a
hens wings. long row of little woolly yellow
and black heads, with bright round eyes, pro-
jecting from under strip of red flannel is an in
teresting spectacle.
"Are chickens Matched by machinea as vigorous
as those Matched naturally"
'More So Incubators are unsentimental. but
they are business. They will hatch twenty-five
per cent. more eggs than hens The chicks are
never afflicted with vermin. They get the right
care after they are Matched. They grow more
rapidly, and become healthier fowls every way.
At cock-fght, back the bird from the orphan
asylum against the home raised fowl every time.
Another advantage of the incubator is that the
spring chicken can be produced at the season
when prices are highest. To a man adapted to
ployment, requiring only small capital"
How much capitalW
"a medium sized incubator, holding from 700
to ZOO eggs. costs from $l50 to $l65 One hold
ing 1000 eggs costs 5000. Much larger ones are
made to order More than one man has made
success, with less than $500 to start on. But
many men with large capital fail because they
either know too much or they do not give the
business the proper attention.
How long have hatchers been in use?'
From 5000 to 5000 years. Herodotus tells
about cellars in Egypt where eggs were placed
beneath furnaces so as to apply the heat from
above. There were Railways through which the
attendants passed to turn the eggs They had
noticed that hen would turn the eggs several
times a day when sitting on her nest The
Egyptians follow the old style now They get
1000 900 chicks a year out of 25,00O0O
eggs placed in their incubators. The best
American machines hatch out more than
so per cent of the eggs. There are forty-one
chicks in the window there. l got them from
forty four eggs. OF course think my incubator
is the best The new ostrich farm in California
uses incubators, because, you know, the os-
trich does not set
DO other foreigners than the Egyptians use
incubators?"
Eyes. Chinese have used them thousands of
years. The French and English were amongthe
first to make them, but on South African ostrich
farms the American machine is preferred One
American manufacturer has sent more than
ninety machines there in the last few years.
Wherever Yankee ingenuity is placed untram-
meled in competition with the ingenuity of other
nations, we have reason to repress the eagles
scream.
A Clerical Tuft- Hunter.
Paris Morning News.
When one gets into GOOD society il is ouite