The Springdale news., 1917-03-23
MONEY |NCHICKEAS
 + HAaDL. .ED RIGHT
Proper Incubation Makes Big Flock. But IL Takes .uch
 Care
By II. K. Dyorachek. College Of
 Agriculture, Fayetteville.

With proper storage Of the eggs prior 10 the time that they are put in the machine. Eggs should be kept in a cool temperature of approximately 10 degrees and if this temperature is not maintained it will die and cause the egg to be culled out as infertle a the first candling It is recommend cd 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 a prerequisite of 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 a 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 unexpectedly be extinguished the heat will be retained longer On ac- count of the tank arrangement on this kind of machine it is doubtful if II E as durable over period of years as the hot air machine due to natural rHsting out.
 Always rNn an incubator for at least a day before putting in the eggs This enables the machine to thorough ly dry out It permits of correct tenn perature adjustment and al 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 a 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 Hnques- uonably the better because 1t obsiates the danger of the thermometer bulb resting upon an infertile egg CT upon ole n which the embryo aas died It fs= recommended hat tHe= machine be regulated al temperature of I02 de- gTees during the first week and 103 degrees thereafter
 Candlire should be done twice dur ing rhe hatch on the seventh and fourteenth days. On the seventh day under the candle She live germ will have the appearance Of c spider due to the network Of veins that are develop Ing. Infertle eggs will appear clear and germs that have died will show up with semi-eircular red line The purpose of candling CD the fourteenth day is 10 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 tho total contents of the egg may evapo- rate during the hatch and moisture must te supplied to compensate for this loss. A big advance in the nanu- facture of incuhators recently has been the introduction of sand trays which are kept puddled 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 Whisk broom or an atomiZer. all of which methods are good, but t 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 charred DOT ton of the wick may be scraped off with a match. When the lamp is re placed in the machine after filling 1t should not be turned up too high be- cause smoking may take place An accumulation of soot may result and i consequently the fame may go out and ruin the possibilities of 'good hatch
 On the evening of the eighteenth day the machine should be closed and not opened again until matching is we'll over The idea is that the chick must not be disturbed immediately before hatching The hatch should be en- tirely over on the evening of the twenty first day. If it takes longer it . 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 48 hours without feed before transferring them