Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-01-15
Written for the oxford Democrat
pOluTRY NOTES.


Written for the oxford Democrat
POULTRY NOTES.
From all along the line of the poultry
frontier, there comes now the SOUND ol
preparations for the spring campaign oil
srtificial incubation and brooding.
Doubtless to many readers of this
paper the subject Of Incubation by artifi-
cial means /. a wholly unfamiliar one, and
the idea that there may b. ways or means
employed for the production ot chickens
upon a small or large scale, independent
OF the time-honored offices of the old hen
to the saving of labor, time aud mon
ev-is one they have not as Yet accepted
as fact in good and regular standing.
/. Nevertheless. more and more frequent l.
becoming the progressive farmer or
poultrymsn, Who has ceased placing any
| dependence upon his hens for any other
purpose than that of providing the eggs,
he and his trusty Matching apparatus
doing All the rest, leaving the hen To go
back again ~ tke business OF egg-pro-
I duction, at which art she j. still indi>-
pens BILE, and probably ever will eontin-
ue 10 be.
I Artificial incubation has long ceased
7 to be an experiment; it has become 4
! great industry and is carried on upon "a
/ scale - vast a. 20 stsrtle the man who
keeps small flock of hens and who i IN
doubt a. 10 whether Iii pays to Keep
7 hens, anyway.
For the comfort Of those who may
feel y di.trust of any method that i not
sanctioned hv long usage and that ante
/ e. IuF tN htl
grandfathers. IL might be we'll 20 OBJ
serve that the idea OF hatching
the eggs OF the domestic fowl by
ARTIFICIAL means i by no means an
invention Of Yankeedom. IL Is true
that II is an application of the Yankee
il l. 10 his inventive skill that the chick
en- or duck Matching machine has become
practicable adjunct u the outfit oi every
Que raising poultry, upon whsteNer scale
but for the originality Of the idea We
are Obliged 10 90 way back 20 ancient
Egvpt and lose ourselves in the haze of
antiquity. for no records show when
they did not DO it.
These old WORTHLESS. however, did not
have New England winter 20 take into
consideration, nor did they have hatch
inr machines. They made an entire
room into Al incuhNting chamber aud
ranged their eggs around II oU shelves
the requisite temperature being supplied
by methods We have not ~ vet ascer-
tanned. Thus Ne have no reason To dis
credit the probable fact, that the ancient
Pharaoh, and Ramese> without number,
NAV have dinei upon their spring broil-
er. roaster or celery-hSvOred duck, in
cubator hstched and brought up by
hand lust - the American public i do
ing At the present time.
III therefore ;his fact of maturity,
which i thus attached 20 the idea ot III
cubatiou by artificial means, l. 50 indiS-
putAhlv established, let u hope that any
doubling or Seotiiug Thomases may
have their fears allAyed.
Let IL be understood that the incuhat-
or does nothing more nor nothing less
than the hen herself 1T simply supplies
the requisite amount of warmth Tor TIE
requisite length of time.
III this cun De- done 90 just the same de-
gree that the hen does Il, there = moth
ipg more to be dune-the problem l.
solved. \ baby chick m king it, APP
pc nee for the first iim" ia this world,
IA, Not th- remote ! itea hos II came
here. whether by means Of au incubai-
ipc hen or machine, nor does 1t care
l. i enough for the newcomer 10 geai-
ize that IL i, here. snd IL very first IN
stinct i to pick 5t snythiug it sees BE-
fore II of "a suitable ~i2e, WhollX without
the intervening ciucs of the hca. he
"a ritter j. often amused AZ the surprise
,haWn bv visitors Who see baby chicks
led during their first days, wondering
how il vas possible 10 supplsnt the
mother hen In teaching them 10 eat, The
finger. lightly tapped upon The board
before them. causes the uewly-hatCheu
chick, 10 come Al once sud peck at the
little PARTICLES Of food, and the lesson
need be- but rarely repeated.
Nor does the infant chick care how u
yrfs lis ur,ded warmth, sufficient for II
.rlf i the fact that the warmth l. fur-
uiShed and that IL can nestle up along
side it, brothers and sisters and cuddie
down upon the responsive bosom of the
hrooder, stranger still i the tact that
the newly hatched chick will folio" any
moving object. like the hands or feet oi
IA. attendant. quite a. readily the first
few DAYS - il " IN the hen that hatched
~. luatFU NJ = UulN ~ANta -tA'N. 80
third dsy that the chick begins to dis
tiugui,h between the h,u aud the AT
tendant, finally choosing the former.
One queer thing Is noticeable with
chicks that are being brooded by hen
they are afraid and shy OF any other
moving thing. and will not suffer them
selves 10 be caught. They seem to have
sworn allegiance 10 her alone, ana All
other objects are tabOoed as possibly
dangerous. Ga the other hand "A chick
being reared under a brOoder. y very
tame and not particularly unwilling to
be picked up by the hand. Indeed they
ere usually too much 50 and often en-
danger their lives by crowding 700
closely about ones feet. such chieSs
viii take fright AT the first sight OF a
hen. quite a. naturally IS though II
were any other living creature that
might De a natural enemy.
The mother hen teaches the chick 40
solurelv nothing but what IL learns
without her-in fact the little being i
bundle of concentrated instincts, when
All come 70 the fore and into active use,
inst A. soon a. the need arises.
All asks is TO be furnished with the
reouisite amount of warmth, too much
nainy oujte a. bad a. too little; with the