Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-30
ORPHAN CHICKS MATCHED.
IncubatOrs Reviewed by the Most
Noted Poultry Faneier.
From ne NeqC York Journal.

From the Near York journal.
Mr.. Rutherford B. Hayes, lately of
Washington, D. c., now road commits
sioner of Fremont, Ohio, has written a
pamphlet for private circulation. 1t is an
attack on the artificial incubation of the
domestic fowls.
The ex-President of the United States
describes the principles underlying all
the incubators. He says; "These boxes
Of wood and glass, maintaiHed at an IN
natural temperature, are poor substitutes
indeed for the downy breast of the mother
hen. They are OviparOus lighthouses. In
them the poor chicks are actually forced
into existence. The moment the chickens
come into the world they are left to their
own resources. There is no mother TO
guide them with warning click or to
teach them how to catch the early
worm"
Mr.. Hayes argues that the whole race
of chickens is deteriorating, physically
and morally, through the influence Of
these patent incubators.
can egg" he goes on, ''bearing within
its delicate shell the germ of life, lies for
tWenty-one days on an incubating rack
Its narrow prison is kept at a tempara-
ture OF 104 degrees, q lesser heat than
prostrates the British soldiers in the Sou
dan or the United States marines on the
isthmus of Panama. Three weeks pass
and the infant chicken picks his way out of
his shell and steps from the heat of his
birthplace into the cold world. greater
transition than from the White House to
Fremont cottage. His sprOuting feath-
ers offer no protection against the chill
blasts, and he is driven to seek shelter.
perhaps in stable, or, worse still, near
DarrOOm stove"
Mr.. Hayes cites the case of a number of
young Shanghais which were artifcially
raised in Fremont. The man who owns
the incubator there sold them to Mr..
Hayes neXt-dOor neighbOr last spring.
Mr.. Hayes had Just sOwn his garden seed.
The plot back of his house was full of
roses and viOlets and heart s-ease seed,
when the wicked incubated chickens made
their way through the fence and picked
up all Of them.
Had they mother" argues Mr.. Hayes,
"they never would have descended to take
what was another's."
Zone day when | was walking down the
main street," writes Mrs. Hayes husband
further on in his pamphlet, 81 was forced
to pass by the barrOOm of the hotel. My
attention was attracted by the hilarious
conduct of a brood of chickens. They
could not have been more than two weeks
front of the baTroom. Some were trying
to crow, some were fighting and all were
drinking at little stream of lager beer
that trlckled out from the barrOOm floor.
Shocked and disguised, hurried from the
scene. Close investigation proved that
every one of those chickens had been
Matched in an incubator"
MIR. Hayes closes by appealing to pOul.
trymen, chicken fanciers and chicken
raisers not to deprive the hens of their
natural duty and prerOgatye Of sitting on
a nest and letting the rOOsters scratch
around for gram and worm. He appeals
to their pockets and tells them that
chickens, Ike men, soon become "tOugh'
when removed from the softeuing influ-
ences of home and mother.
The pamphlet has excited much discus
sion In New York, and incubators can be
had at a discount. Nevertheless there is
phe at its dangerous worth in a candy
store on Sixth avenue. Ladies and chill
Gren crowd around 1t and watch the chicks
make positively their first appearance on
my stage. The ladies' stand and wait for
shell to crack while their husbands are
waiting at home for dinner.
The young chickens are sold for % cents
apiece. observation-disclosures keepers buy them
by the dozen, feed them on air for several
weeks and then serve them broiled under
tie name of spring chickens. Half of the
psrlOrs on Murray Hill have one or more
chickens rOOsting on the glded chande-
Tiers or nesting in the silken sofas,
while the less fortunate but more virtu-
GUS chickens who were Matched out nat
urally have to pick up scanty living IN
the streets.