The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1894-09-06
FERTILE INCUBATORS.
For Matching Eggs They Beat the
Hens Themselves.
Almost Any Householder With Little Space May Now
Raise DnleS for Mate-HW i is Done,

Almost Any Householder With a Little Space May Now
Raise DnleB for MaTtet-HOw i is Done,
Every householder who has a back yard or
an unoccuped 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 u number of machines to look after
them without the aid of hens. All the hens
need to do is to lay the eggs; the machines
do the rest until the chickens are old
enough to be broiers.
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 it, and when they tired of liy
ing an active life they would sit down on
some eggs until 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.
situations and the way nature had arranged
their surroundings in regard to food,
warmth and a place to sleep. Modern in
vention has supplanted the hen in all this
except in the laying of eggs that will hatch
1t bothered the farmers and chicken
raisers for many years that the hens would
| lay more eggs at 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 half trying to hatch some chickens
and bringing them up until they We're old
enough to look out for themselves
To do this work of the hens a machine
| called an incubator was invented to do the
Matching There are several kinds of incll-
| bators, but in the main they are alike. An
incubator is Il big, square wooden box,
propped up on four legs to be out of the
way of drafts. Under it is a large oil lamp
and on top is Il fiue with II cover on the end
of balance. Within there are trays, on
which the eggs or placed. Any number of
eggs can be put in the machine though it
is hardly worth while to run an incubator
on less than 100 or $50 eggs. A large incu-
be good, freshly laid and put in the incrl-
bator without having been exposed to any
heat over 104 degs 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 OF
which come highly bred chickens which are
worth several dollars apiece.
1t is not well, though, to begin trying tC
hatch chickens with costly eggs, as it takes
a while to get the knack and it is cheaper
to experiment on ordinary eggs, so that il
the machine is not handled properly tho
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 for the difference in risk.
When the eggs have been secured they
are put in place with a steady tempera
ture of about So degs. until the incubator i:
warmed. The lamp is lighted and the bal
ance adjusted so that the fue will be raised
and the heated air will escape at lOl dogs
Fahrenheit. When the 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. The temperature of the in
cubator at once falls, because the eggs ar,
cooler than tho sir. Then it begins to rise
and in day or two it is back again to
temperature of 101 dogs. At that tempera
. ture the eggs are kept for three weeks Ev
cry morning and every evening the position
I of the eggs is reversed, which is easily don't
, by putting one tray over another and turn
, ing it, The lamp needs to be kept fillet
and the wicks attended to, so that it will
Of h,,,, t,, l. oh 9 . L. ,,I
ance is well adjusted and the lamps KEEP
properly fed, the eggs will be kept at
3 temperature of between 100 and 1903 degs
steadily.
: Some people who raise chickens by ma
I chinery think that the eggs should be take
: out and cooled from time to time to CORE
spond with the times that the hen leaves th
, nest to get food for itself, but the genera
, opinion is that the machine is vast in
provement over the hens, and that the ret
son so many eggs under hens do not hate
z is because the hen does not sit there steadil
/ to keep them at an even temperature.
y At the end of three weeks the eggs ope
/ and the chickens appear. In some incub;
:, tors the chickens drop out through the egg
+. :. into tray placed below to receive then
y while IN other incubators the chicken
: climb out of the eggs and climb aroun
= over their unmatched brothers and sister
y For day these freshly Matched chicken
4 are kept in the incubator to dry off.
= two-thirds of the eggs hatch successful
!. the experiment has beaten the average hen
!, record several times over.
- When the chicks have spent day in IL
~ incubator they are put in another machil
s called a brooder, which is also heated wit
:. lamps, but not to such a high temperatur
IS They make their first meal in this machir
II off hard boiled and chopped up eggs mike
q with a few bread crumbs This is the
" diet for few days, when they get milk al
. ginger mixed with bread crumbs and gra
. ually oatmeal and cornmeal The impo
:. tant thing in the brooder is to keep the
q warm and dry.
:, Three weeks is the time the chicken
spend in the brooder. At the end of til
stage they are old enough to eat oats, cor
# ground up oyster shells and other articl
10 of ordinary chicken diet. They are sa
~ now and there is little danger of their d
u ing Nothing remains except to fatt,
II them up to be broilers.-New York Sun.