Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-01-15
BROlLERS BY INCUBATOR,
Now Ia the Time to Begin Operations To-
Spring Chickens.

Spring Chickens.
November will not be too soon to be-
gin operations for Matching the early
broilers. 1t requires three weeks for in
cubation, which will bring the hatch
down to about December, and ten weeks
more will be required for the growth of
the chicks, thus getting them into mar
ket in March. All the operations for
Matching should therefore be completed
before January, if early broilers are to
be a speciality. AS one can easily cal
culate the number of weeks required for
Matching and raising the chicks, the i'm
p%ortance of beginning early cannot be
too strongly urged. It is All excellent
rule to allow three months from the
time the eggs are put into the incubator
until the chicks go to market, when
they should then weigh about one and
a half pounds each.
Early chickens in large numbers will
be an imposibility with the use Of hens.
as the hens are too uncertain and may
not begin to sit before spring. If the
broiler business is to be conducted with
q view Of securing a profit, the Matching
must be done with incubators in order
to have such work under control. With
an incubator n can hatch out chicks al
any time and in as large numbers a>
may be desired, while the hen is ut
times useless. There are drawbacks
and advantages with incubators, and
the same applies to hens. In the winter
II has more time to devote to Matching,
and may proftably employ time that
would be otherwise lost.
Quick growth and the heaviest weight
in the shortest time are matters of I'M
portance in raising broilers, and the use
Of pure bred males will add much to the
value of the chicks. 1t is not necessary
to discard the hens because they are
mongrels or cross bred, but it is very
important that no mongrel males be
used. The Wyandotte, Plymouth Rock,
Langshan or Brallma males will show a
wonderful improvement in the size and
quality of the chicks, and as q single
male may sire a thousand chicks in less
than a year, the use of mongrel males
is not economical, the addition of one
fourth Of a cent to the value of each
chick being than the value of the
sire if he has sired several hundred
chicks. In the face of this fact it is un-
wise to an extreme to omit the pure bred
males.
It incubators are to be used it is not
too soon to begin. Much can be learned
with u trial hatch, and now is the time
to experiment. The greatest drawback
is that of procuring the eggs. There
may be plenty of eggs to be procured,
but all eggs are not suitable for incuba-
ton, as the hens may be too fat, the
males impotent. or the eggs from imma-
ture pullets. No eggs except those OF
normal size should be used. Large eggs,
small eggs, rough eggs or m%isshapen
eggs should be discarded. 1t is best tc
have yonr own hens from which to Sc
cure eggs, but if this cannot be done,
and eggs must be purchased. let it he
from hocks that are known to you. Any
attempt to hatch chicks from eggs pro.
cured promiscuously, from all sources,
will fail to give satisfactory results, no
matter how we'll the management may
be otherwise. Southern Live Stock
Journal.