The Red Cloud chief., 1898-04-29
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS EOR
OUR RURAL READERS.
The Hen ar the Inculntor,

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whether a farmer shall use \ hen
0r an incubator for Matching his chicks
will depend largely on the volume of
hiS operations. II he keeps only "A
dozen or so hens 1t certainly will not
pay him tn depend on an incubator.
out II he expects to raise several hum
ireds hens Il year, as we believe every
farmer should. it will I've advisable for
him to secure an incubator as soon as
he can. ~lncubatOrs can now be rir-
chased very chcaply. and the invest
ment will be a permanent one. for II
IL probably true that 80 far az one
mans life Is concerned inCubatOrs new
or wear out. IN incubator will pay for
itself many times in the course of ten
years. Not only SO. but 1t will save
much labor. And. while buying, II is
better To get "A large machine. \ big
flock Of chicks Is not so hard to look
out for rs Il number of smaller locks.
as one can readily imagine who has had
much TO do with sitting hens.
The comparison OF the hen and the
Incubator shows that much of the pre-
l'pIu'l 'i'' " ''NlliIpHS ~ WI li' Ni''
of the incubator. who that has had to
look after "A dozen sitting hens has not
wished that all of the hens could be
combined into one big hen and that all
OF the chicks could be put into II
Hook? This Is one of the most valuable
things about the incubator. one can
raise from one to two hundred chicks
- "a ,t,,, ,,,,J I.,, ,1,n N,,rl all I'm A
bunch. Another advantage Is that the
lice can be finally cNtcrminatcd. In
iact II Il man begins right and takes
care Of his poultry as he shOuld there
is no reason in the world for ever hav-
ing Il louise among the poultry, II all OF
che chicks are raised in ~incubaturs.
This alone Is Il consideration OF vast
moment. When W use hens for sit
ting II is generally impossible to cX-
terminate the lice. At least. even II
they can be eXtcrminatcd by cXtraordi-
nary methods, they seldom arc. some
time ago the Farmers Review sent out
inquiries To its readers rs to the cause
Of losses in the poultry yard. The re-
plies showed that more chicks were
iost from lice than from all other
causes combined. Thus the incubator
removes at one stroke the greatest
cause for mortality among chicks.
Probably the second greatest loss
among newly born chicks is being trod-
den TO death by the old hen. We some
times hear people say that no one can
care for "A chick as an old hen, but the
TACT remains that the hen Is SO stupid
hat she will stand on a chick till the
life Is gone, even though the little m
keeps up a constant pceping as long as
II can. Instinct does not take the place
Of intellect. The writer has frequently
lost the larger part Of "A brood through
the stupidity of the old hen. This is
especially true of heavy hens for
mothers. With some OF the heavy
birds 1t is NJ unusual thing to go out
10 their nest every morning ana find
another dead chick" SO We believe
That 1t will pay the farmer to substi-
tute his W intellect for the instinct
OF the hen. This he can do in the pur-
chase of an incubator.
or course. like all other things. tho
running of an incubator must be
learned, but this is not n difficult thing
to do. provided one will listen TO the
advice OF those who have run them for
many years. 1t Is not at all necessary
for n to learn entirely in the dear
school Of experience. The main point
in an incubator is to keep the tcmpcra.
Il r right, and to see that when the
chicks come into the brooder they have
enough heat 10 enable them to make a
continuous growth.