Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-02-27
(By J. HOWARD sLEDDD

(By ]. HOWARD SLEDDD
Most poultrymen are concerned
Just at this time about the Matching
of the eggs set and of the successful
brooding of the chicks that may be
hatched. As an old poultry man
then, ] am venturing to offer some
suggestions as to the use of your ma
chine and as to your brooding, pre-
suming that you have relegatod the
hen, except in rare instances. To the
simple work Of laying eggs
Artificial incubation is as old as
the great pyramids of Gizah. or per-
haps older, and the interest that has
been shown in it for the past twenty
years has enabled us to advance very
far toward perfect machine. We
have not yet gotten the machine that
is so simple that any child can run it
with success or one that will hatch
every hatchablc egg, though | have
seen such statements made. We have
them that do automatically control
the heat. but even then the lamp
flame or the gas jet has to he
watched. and there are many details
as to the proper amount of moisture
necessary to Il successful hatch, as
well as to the required airspace in
the shell on the day of Matching that
has not been absolutely solved. We
have gotten to the point, however,
where every poultryman who under
takes to raise any great number of
chickens has discarded the hen and
has adopted the Incubator for many
reasons. The incubator can be set
whenever lou so desire--,argcr num-
bers of eggs can bet set at one time
and hence larger flocks of young
stock raised for both the market and
to fill the breeding pens each season.
There is nothing to he said against
the incubator as hatcher. but eN-
erything in its favor. If one would he
up to the times in the Matching of his
stock and getting them out at the
time he wishes them. There are,
however, very many things that may
be said in reference to the running of
the machine and the successful brood
ing of the chicks.
Must BE Fertile.
No incubator will hatch infertile
eggs. nor will ii hatch eggs whose vi
tally is low. The very first requisite
then to IA successful hatch is to have
eggs whose fertility is not only good,
but where the germ is of strong vi
tally. To do this it is essential that
YOU have vigorous birds in your
breeding pens. Now this matter of
good breeding birds is one of great
| importance and the entire success of
| your breeding rests upon IT. II is not
| always the fault of the male bird that
the eggs will have no vitality. for
| there are certain hens that Will not
marry with certain males, and 1t is
necessary that the poultryman keep
n close watch on his yards to see IL
such be the case. There are, OF
course. hens that are always sterile
and there are males that are i'm
potent The safest plan is to use
| two males in each pen. alternating
them every few days, thus insurlns
as far as may be the fertility OF the
eggs. Then too. / believe that the
| hatchability of the egg is often de-
, stroyed by the use of condiments in
the feeding or by neglect of proper
ration, as well as by forced feeding
| in order to produce eggs. Except
| where we are after eggs for the mar
| ket | am not in accord with those
who advocate the dry mash feeding.
| | believe that such feeding VIII pro
! duce more eggs. but | do not believe
| that the vitality of the chick hatched
will be as great as the vitality OF the
| chick Matched from eggs laid by a
hen that is fed n simple grain ration.
When the hen was given a gizzard 1t
was given her for purpose. and that
purpose was for the grinding or her
own food. She was intended to be
her own miller, and anything that
retards the work of the gizzard or
that lightens it makes for the weak
ening of that and the other organs
and hence produces less vitality in
the hen, and so into her eggs. Mate
your pens from strong vigorous birds,
feed correctly and you will will have
many chicks to bless you for using
common sense in your work.
The Incubator.
There are on the market today
very many most excellent machines.
and you may safely depend on any
| of the standard makes. machine
| that is too cheaply constructed will
not pay to own. 1t may do the work
| for season, but the constant high
| temperature necessary to incubation
| will soon cause it to warp and crack
and it will get in such shape that II
will be impossible to maintain the
| heat necessary to incubate properly.
Having purchased the machine. be
| sure and see that in setting 1t up IL is
level. for If not the distribution of
| the heat will not be uniform, and
hence the temperature will vary in
different parts Of the machine. After
the machine is properly set up and
leveled start the lamp-usng a mod
! erately low flame. Let 1t run for a
| IeW udNS uHtll you bit Sd'iSii'N ''ih'
the thermostat is controlling the heat
at the proper temperature. | have
found that the best results come
when the heat has reached 100 de-
grees and will stay steady at that
point. then put the eggs in the ma
chine and find that as they warm up
the heat will go to about 102 and
will stay there for the first week, and
the second it go to something like
103, and the fourth and last week II
will go from that to 104. Now, when
the Matching time comes 1t Is wises'
to let the door stay closed, for there
will be a constant change in the heat
il the door is opened frequently in
order to satisfy the curiosity that Is
engendered by watching the chicks
get out of the shell.
Be sure that your thermometer Is
an accurate one, and that it is placed
on an egg with a strong germ in 1t
for otherwise you are very likely tc
get the heat too high, and more
chicks are killed the first week OF in
cubation than at any other time. Tc
be sure that you have the fertile eggs
you should test them on the tenth
day, or better still. on the seventh
| and tha fonrtaapth An ppp that Is