Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-03-31
Properly Handled for the
First Two Weeks There is
Little Danger of Sickness
Operator Should Aim to
Initiate Natural Methods as
Much as Possible

Whatever prejudice attached to the
artificial Matching of chicks at one
time, the poultry industry has been
given its progress by this very means.
Where a hen will hatch and brood a
dozen chicks, an incubator and BROOD
er will hatch and protect hundreds of
chicks. The mother hen is not to be
despised, however, because of the les
sons she can teach in caring for her
should be handled in imitation of her
ways. The basis of success with
poultry lies in the care of the chicks
for the first two weeks.
A baby chick performs its first func-
tions instinctively. 1t hovers under the
hen where it is warmest and in the
least danger of being crushed by her
becomes distressed and is glad to re-
spond to the cluck of the mother hen
by seeking refuge in her warm
feathers. If left undisturbed a baby
chick will not be able to obtain food
for at least 4S hours. Nature has pro-
vided for it's nourishment by means
of the yolk of the egg, which will sus-
tain the chick for the first two days
of its life.
These are the lessons in early care
and brooCAng which natural incubation
teaches. Sufficient warmth in early
brooding is the first step in the success
ful handling of chicks in artificial in
cubation. The process of Matching is
simple enough, buy the brooding OF
young chicks is likely to prove moro or
less troublesome. Whenever possible,
newly-hatched chicks should be allow
ed to remain in the incubator for about
twenty-four hours, BY all means avoid
chilling chicks at the start.
Importance of Fresh Air
Next TO warmth come ventilation
and cleanliness, AS soon as the hatch
ing is over shells and Unmatched eggs
should be removed from the incubator
and the temperature should be regu-
lated to range between 100 and 1O2
degrees, Fresh air in abundance should
be admitted. Baby chicks need oxygen,
not only to strengthen their lungs, but
to purify their blood. The incubator
should be kept dark in imitation of
natural incubation. If the machine has
glass door, hang a thick cloth over
1t to darken the interior,
In tempering the warmth with fresh
air, care should be exercised not to
cause q draft on the chicks. This
applies while the little fellows are in
the incubator and after they have
been removed to the brooder, Fresh
air should be supplied freely, but
drafts and dampness must be avoided.
The ventilation should be arranged to
carry off carbon dioxide and other
poisonous gases,
Preparing the BFOodcp
Before the commencement of the
Matching season every part of the
brood should be thoroughly cleaned
and examined, The careful poultry
keeper will not place baby chicks in
a brooder without first having tested
its heating device for at least twenty
four hours, This applies to both old
and new broeders,
If the heating device is new to the
operator 1t should be studied and tried
before the broodep is used, Then IL
the correct temperature can be main
tanned the new brooder may be regard
ed as safe for the chicks, In providing
for the proper degree of warmth, the
directions of the brooder manufacture
ers should be followed.
II an old brooder is 10 be used,
DON'T assume that 1t will work this sea-
son because it did last year, Some part
may have become rusty, broken or
lost have known a whole brood to
have been lost in this way,
The matter of proper breoder