The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-01-30
FERTILE TNCUBATORs
FOR MATCHING EGGS THEY BEAT
THE HENS THEMSELVES.

How Simple Chicken Making Machine
Is Maae-Aimost Anybody with Little
Space May Now Raise Broilers for Mar
ket-Hew 1t Ii Done.
Every householder who has a back yard OF
an unoccupied attic can raise his own chick
ems. This is a novelty brought about by
the progress of modern invention, which
has taken chickens in its clutches and got
up number of machines to look after
them without the aid Of heSs All the hens
need to do Is to lay the eggs; the machines
do the rest until the chickens are old
enough to be broilers
In the old days, before any one thought
of applying machinery to chickens, the hens
were left to do it all. They scratched
around for enough to eat, laid eggs when
they felt like 1t, and when they tired of liv-
ing an active life they would sit down on
some eggs until u few out of the lot might
be Matched out. Then they would chase
the little chicks around until some of them
died and some lived, according to their con-
stitutions and the way nature had arranged
their surroundings in regard to food,
warmth and place to sleep. Modern in
'vention has supplanted the hen in all this
except in the laying of eggs that will hatch.
DUlIGEtu Tie ldETleTS anu chicken
raisers for many years that the hens would
lay more eggs ut some seasons than at
others, and that they would hatch more at
some seasons than others, so that at times
the chicken market was not well supplied
and at other times it was overstocked. They
figured out that If they could only hatch
chickens when they pleased there would be
great deal more money in the business,
besides leaving the hens free to go on and
lay more eggs instead Of spending month
and u half trying to hatch some chickens
and bringing them UP until they were old
enough to look out for themselves.
To do this work of the hens machine
/ called IN incubator was invented to do the
Matching. There are several kinds of incrl-
bators, but in the main they are alike. An
incubator is a big, square wooden box,
propped up on four legs to be out of the
way of drafts. Under it is large oil lamp
and on top is II flue with Il cover on the end
of balance. Within there are trays, on
which the eggs or placed. Amy number OF
eggs can be put in the machine though it
is hardly worth while to run an incubator
I on less than 100 or $50 eggs. A large incu-
bator will hold SEQ eggs The eggs should
be good freshly laid and put in the incr-
bator without having been exposed to any
!, heat over 104 dogs. Ordinary eggs from
ordinary hens will do, unless the chicken
) raiser wants to breed for blood and quality
He can get high toned eggs which cost as
much as five dollars dozen, and out oi
which come highly bred chickens which are
worth several dollars apiece.
1t is not we'll, though, to begin trying te
hatch chickens with costly eggs, as it takes
while to get the knack and it is cheaper
to experiment on ordinary eggs, so that il
the machine is not handled properly The
loss Will not be great, while FOR eating pur
poses only there is not SO much difference
, in the value of the young chickens to make
up fer the difference in risk.
i When the eggs have been secured they
: are put in n place with "a steady tempera
turc Of about s. dogs. until the incubator i,
warmed The lamp is lighted and the bal
anee adjusted so that the flue will be raised
aud the heated air will escape at 10l dogs
Fahrenheit. When he incubator has beer
at this even temperature for a day the eggs
: are put in the trays, every egg in an apart
= ment by itself Tho temperature of the in
4 cUbator at once falls, because the eggs arr
Z cooler than the air. Then it begins to rise
and in day or two it is back again to d
e temperature of i0i degs. At that tempera
+ ture the eggs are kept for three weeks Ev.
cry morning and every evening the position
of the eggs is reversed which is easily done
! by putting one tray over another and turn
i ing it. The lamp needs to be kept filled
/ and the wicks attended to, so that it viii
5 not burn too high or go out, If the bal
; ance is we'll adjusted and the lamps kept
! properly fed, the eggs will be kept ut 1
.temperntnre OF between 100 and lo3 dogs