El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-01
POULTRY DEPARTMENT
Some Points About Managing an Incubator.
By I. G. KENAN

tentiOn was paid to the Fenulatlon OF
the incubator at the time OF the haISn'
/ think we would hear less Of white
diarrhOea This disease IS no DOUBT
specific one and yet 1t IS practlcalIy
mOnopoliZed by incubator chcks, ana
I think from lack Of sufficient oxygen
during their IS hours Of life in the in
cuDatOr their tender systems are so en-
feebled that they are a ready prey 70
every disease with which. they could be
afflicted
Moisture Also Necessary.
There is not much danger Of having
too much moisture in FL Paso, but great
danger Of not having enough IN me
east an egg can be kept three or -FOUR
weeks and then set to hauch uFdDle
chick You cannot do that here5 eVap-
Grafton is too great. As q rule, where
an egg is placed in the incubator IN TINS
climate there has been as much eVapo-
ration from it as there should De- ana
vet it is almost impossible to prevent
its further loss Of moisture Some IN
cubator instructions direct you TO place
a bucket Of water under the machine
That would be a joke here, pure ana
simple The chicks Matched under such
a process, If any should hatch, would
be so dried and shr1veled that they
would almost crumble. You must have
water in the machine and plenty OF It
There is no use in sprinkling the eggs
As q matter Of fact, I think nothing
should ever be applied to the surface OF
an egg water not excepted, unless the
shell should become greatly soleo,
when it may be washed. Ordinarily
you have no use for water about an n
cubator except to humidity the atmOs-
phere but you need lots OF 1t Tor that
purpose on account Of rapid eVapora-
ton in this atmosphere. Gardeners can
testify to that fact for. speaking from
personal experience, II IS with dlIIl-
Guilty that tender plants can be trans
planted. so great is the drying-out
process that when removed from the
bed. though replanted in mud, they are
dried TO a crisD before their tender
roots begin TO absorb moisture to sus-
tain life. Evaporation from an egg IS
proportionately just as great and II
must be offest with an abundant sup
ply OF moisture
Turning the Eggs.
Of course the eggs must De turned
They should be turned every u hours,
morning and evening If they are 70 De
turned by hand. they should be marked
on one side when placed IN the ma
chine and in handling have the marks
either an IN or an down. In this way
YOU can determine when ali the eggs
has been turned. If, however, they are
10 be turned with an extra tray no
marking is required, and tnlnk the
extra tray plan the better, for, as a
general PROPOSITION the less an egg IS
handled ehe better. In turning, give
both egg and incubator an airing Inc
latter . brief one and the former
pretty L1OrOuSu one QGEJEALNAA-5 N-A
temperature Of the room IN which the
incubator stands.
The Lamp.
The lamp should have attention every
day and it should not be forgotten that
our variations of temperature night ana
day are very great and It might De
n necessary to turn your lamp down
little every morning about 10 O'clock
and up again every night about the
same hour. However, If machine be In
a basement or cellar. where variations
of temperature are not very great, the
lamp very naturally viii require less
attention. Care, however, must be
taken each time after the trimming OF
the wick that the flame is Just right
neither too high nor too low.