Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1916-01-27

who plan to buy new machines should
have their orders in now, as this Is
the rush season for incubator manu-
facturess and the delay. OF an order
may necessitate Matching the chickens
so late that they will not grow and
mature we'll
There is no best incubator to be
recommended because of extra fine
Matching power, but 1t is generally
recognized that the higher priced
machines are most dependable and
will give satisfactory results for the
longest term or years. Many cheap
machines have been known to give
large matches for the first year or two
but because of the low grade material
from which they are manufactured
they do not stand up under wear and
the thermostats and regulators with
which they are equipped arernot de-
pendable. t-
There is little choice, between mois-'
/ ture and non-moisture machines. In
some situations all machines require
| moisture, while in others none re-
quire much. Where sand trays are
| not provided in the incubator, other
means may be used for supplying
! moisture. All of the leading in
| cubators are manufactured as near
| alike as possible as far as ventilation,
and heat circulation is concerned, a
combination of radiation and diffu-
| sion being the common method OF
| supplying heat. Hot air machines are
more to be desired than hot water in
| cubators because there is one less OPP
portunity for disaster. Hot water
gives a very fine kind of heat and
| some of the most popular machines
are heated in this manner, but hot
| air machines are more easily and
| quickly regulated and are more de-
| pendable.
The size of the incubator should be
regulated by the size of the breeding
| flock which the purchaser plans TO
use. Eggs should not be kept more
| than ten days before they are placed
| than one week Therefore flock OF
so hens will provide eggs for 240
machine, while any smaller flock
| would mean that the poultryman
should hatch his eggs in some of the
smaller sizes. For the small poultry
man the 120 to $50 egg size seems
most desirable. This will provide a
sufficient amount of Matching capacity
for his breeding flock and the average
hatch will provide about the right
number of chickens to be handled
comfortably in the ordinary kerosene
heated broodeT.
Poultrymen with large breeding
| flocks should plan to use the 800
egg size incubators. They hatch just
as large a percentage of the eggs and
for less money, because it does not
take much more kerosene to run 39t
egg incubator than 1t does one of the
smaller sizes.
Incubators that have been used in
previous sea sons shoul dbe thorough
ly cleaned and disinfected before they
are. started this year. New burlaI
should be placed in the bottom of the
trays and the entire interior of the
machine washed with 2 per cent
solution of formalin, or other equally
efficient disinfectant. Although there
may be no diseases in the incubator
there i a possibility of the transmits
sion of some germs from eggs which
| it has previously contained and ever
!, if there are no disease germs a ma.
odors of previous matches would pro.
vide better air and larger matches .
| If the incubator is equipped with {
water thermostat it should be renlov.
ed and shaken to see if it contains
any liquid. Some machines are pro
vided with thermostats containing al
, coho1 and after a few years the al
cohol evaporates making the Their,
mostat useless. Because of this fac
it is wiser to buy machines equipped
with bar thermostats which are mad
: entirely of metal and will last a If,
, time.
Thermostats should also be testet
before the beginning of a hatch. Thel
, may not vary more than one-haii
degree, but that may be the difference
between good and a poor hatch. I
good method of testing thermostats il
to place them in warm water at
thermometer which is known to b,
accurate. Incubators which. are run
year after year without any specia
care as to cleanliness and adjustment
of equipment never give satisfactor.
results after a few years.