The Newark journal., 1917-04-05
MONEY IN CHICKENS
 F HANDLED RIGHT
Proper Incubation Makes Big Flock, But 1t Takes Much
 Care.
By H. E. Dvorachek, College of
 Agriculture, Fayetteville.

to the time that they are put ill the machine. Eggs should be kept in a cool temperature of approximately TO degrees and if this temperature is not maintained 1t will die and cause the egg to be culled out as infertile at the first candling. It is recommend ed that the eggs be turned daily and for twelve hours before the hatch is begun they should rest on end with the large end up so that the air cell may adjust itself A good cellar is prerequisite Of a good hatch. It should be one that is well ventilated at all times, and the windows should be so arranged that no direct sunlight falls on the machine.
 Very often we are asked the type of incubator one should buy During in- cubation there is probably very little difference in the regularity of heat maintenance of a hot water and hot air machine. However, the latter is more quickly heated up at any time. The hot water machine has the advan- tage in the fact that if the lamp should
 
 heat will be retained longer On ac- count of the tank arrangement on this kind of machine it is doubtful if 1t Is as durable over a period of years as the hot air machine due to natural rusting out
 Always run an incubator for at least day before putting in the eggs. This enables the machine to thorough 1y dry out It permits of correct tenn perature adjustment and at the same time gives the operator a knowledge of the workings of his machine
 On the egg tray the eggs should not be piled one upon the other. The ma chine should not be so crowded that efficient turning can not take place. In imitation of nature the eggs should be turned regularly twice day, morning and night, commencing on the even ing of the third day
 Temperature may be recorded on the eggs or by the thermometer In sus- pension immediately above the egg tray. This latter method is unques- tionably the better because it obviates the danger of the thermometer bulb resting upon an infertile egg or upon one in which the embryo has died It is recommended that the machine be regulated at temperature of 102 de- grees during the first week and 103 degrees thereafter.
 Gandling should be done twice dur ing the hatch, on the seventh and fourteenth days. On the seventh day under the candle the live germ will have the appearance of a spider due to the network of veins that are develop ing. Infertie eggs will appear clear and germs that have died will show up with a semi-circu1aT red line. The purpose of candling on the fourteenth day is to determine the size of the air cell so that the operator may know whether he is supplying sufficient moisture. Dead chicks at this time will have an immobile appearance and the air cell will be hay as com pared with the clear air cell of the egg containing live chick. Infertile eggs may be saved and boiled for the chicks; but they should not be mar keted
 The greatest problem in artificial incubation is the proper supplying of moisture to the egg. It is a fact that from nine to eleven per cent of the total contents of the egg may evapo- rate during the hatch and moisture must be supplied to compensate for this loss A big advance in the manu- fracture of incubators recently has been the introduction of sand trays which are kept puddTed with water during the hatch. These trays set i'm mediately below the egg tray in the machine. Some people have dishes of water in the bottom of the incubator. Others sprinkle the eggs with warm water, using a whisk broom or an atomizer, all of which methods are good, but it would seem that the sand tray arrangement is the best, both from the standpoint of labor and eff ciency.
 Regular care of the lamp during the hatch is necessary. The chnrred DOT tion of the wick may be scraped off with a match When the lamp is re placed in the machine after filling il should not be turned up too high be cause smoking may take place. A, accumulation of soot may result and consequently the flame may go out and ruin the possibilities of good hatch
 On the evenin 2 of the eighteenth day the machine should be closed and not opened again until matching is well over. The idesl is that the chick must not be disturbed immediately before matching. The hatch should be en- tirely over on the evening of the twenty-first day. If it takes longer il signifies that the machine has been running at too low temperature and the operator should correct this fault in his next hatch. The chicks may be left in the machine for IS hours without feed before transferring then to the brood,ar.