Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-02-16
THE POULTRY YARD
INCUBATOR POINTERS.
BY Ed Weber
BY Ed Weber

. . g j 4la e.
The season when hundreds of people
will be running incubators Is about
here. In fact many are now running
their first batch. Many Will make q
failure, while some viii have unquali-
fled success.
The old prejudice against incubators
and breeders for the artificial raising
of poultry among farmers and farmers
wives is fast giving place to enthus-
iasm and they are found on a great
many farms thruout the country. A
few years ago there was a popular be-
lief among farmers and, in fact, a
great many poultrymen, that incubator
chicks were inferior to those Matched
under hens and raised In the natural
way. 1t needed but the commercial
hatcheries and the establishment of the
day-old chick business, however, to
dispel all doubts and to convince the
skeptical, and now it is safe to say
that fully Is per cent of all the poultry
raised is Matched in incubators.
Much Depends on Breeding.
If the machines are operated In the
proper manner. just as strong, just as
large, just as vigorous livable chicks
can be Matched as those Matched under
hens. We have found that the success
Of the hatch depends greatly upon the
laying stock which produced the eggs.
With good, healthy well matured
breeding stock, properly fed and housed
half the work of the incubator is ac-
complished. 1t is next to impossible
to hatch an egg from an immature and
underdeveloped female, mated to an
understood, scrawny male, improperly
fed, housed in unclean, poorly lighted
quarters. Taking for granted that the
breeding stock is in good condition,
the next thing in line is to get the in
cubator in readiness for operation.
Where shall We operate it? Most
manufacturers say in the living room,
or any room where the temperature
does not vary greatly, but the best
place is a, well-lighted basement, If
an incubator cellar is not owned. Here
we find the moisture question more
easily adjusted than when the machine
is operated above ground and this
moisture item is Of vital Importance.
Incubation Starts EARLY.
II strongly fertile egg is broken
twenty four hours after setting, a
bright scarlet speck about the size Of
the point Of a pin can be seen. and
this sneck will exhibit all the motion of
heart beat as regularly as could be
seen in a grown fowl A main artery
can be seen issuing from each side of
this speck and dividing into branches.
This is the first circulatory system
of the chick At the end of the sixth
day the embryo spine and head can be
seen, and three sets Of blood vessels
exist-one spread out over the white
next to the shell. one penetrating the
white, and one enveloping and pene-
trating the yolk. The first is analogous
to the gills Of tadpole. absorbing oxy-
gen and giving off carbonic acid gas
thru the shell. 1t is in fact a set OF
temporary lungs, rapidly absorbing as
soon as the chick pips the egg and the
true lungs assume their function. 1t
is to allow these blood vessels to alb
sorb that the chick lies quiet for a
time after piping. and it is the rup-
turing of these unabsorbed blood yes
sells that causes the bleeding and con-
sequent weakening Of the chick when
we attempt to help it out Of the shell