The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-03-16
INCUBATION AND BRooDING
Timo Has Arrived for Planning In
creased Poultry Production.

Now is the time to make definite |
plans for increasing poultry production
the coming summer, says the Farm Blu |
eau News for March The first step to |
be taken is the careful selection of the
breeding stock to produce eggs for |
Matching. Eggs from yearling or two |
ycar-old hens are considered much bet |
ter than those from pullets. Therefore, |
pick out from your old hens those of |
uniform size, color and type of the |
breed, and especially those that give the |
best signs of being heavy producers. |
Put these hens in pen by themselves
with the cockerels at least two weeks
before eggs are to be saved for hatch
ing. If several cockercls are kept, bet
ter fertility will be secured by allowing
only one cockerel in the pen at time.
Eggs should never be held over a
week or ten days before setting, and
care should be taken that they are not
chilled. During cold weather they
should be gathered at least twice q day
and placed in n room having uniform
temperature Of about so degrees, if pos
sible. A good plan is to pack them in
an egg crate and turn the crate end for
end every day. This will keep the eggs
in normal condition and prevent the
yolk from sticking to the she'll
In order to get an early hatch, one
will have to depend largely on the in
cubator. 1t is seldom that hens will
set early enough to get the desired early
Matched chickens. The incubator should
be set in a room having a fairly uni
form temperature. The cellar is good
place, provided the temperature there
does not 90 below SIS degrees. The ma
chine must be set on good, solid founda-
ton, and should be made level 1t is
good plan to start the machine a few
days before there are eggs enough col
f. lected to set it. This will give oppor-
tunity for the careful adjustment of the
regulator Study directions accompany
| ing the machine as to regulation, etc.
| The temperature to start should be
about 102 degrees. After the eggs are
put in it will gradually work up to l03
degrees as the chickens begin to develop
/ in the eggs. The temperature should
I be held at l03 degrees for the remainder
of the hatch. The eggs should be turned
twice day from the second to the
eighteenth day, and should be cooled
once a day when turned The extent Of
the cooling period should be short to
start with and increased to thirty min
] utes towards the end of the hatch. The
length of time OF cooling would depend
somewhat on the temperature of the
room. A good rule to go by is to cool
until the egg feels neither warm nor
cold to the eye.
The eggs should be tested on the
fifth or sixth day and again on the
tenth or twelfth day. The infertile eggs
removed at the first test should be
saved and cooked for the chickens, but
those removed at the second test arc
worthless and should be destroyed
Some incubators have moisture trays
and the makers of others claim that
their machines do not need to have any
moisture added. Experiments have
shown that the sprinkling of the eggs
with fine spray aids In the Matching
process. An atomizer or clothes sprin-
kler is often used for this purpose. The
sprinkling should be done just before
the eggs are put back into the incubator
A pail Of water placed under the lamp
will also help to increase the humidity.
Those who have hens that will set
early should make use of this means to
get few early chickens. Prepare q
, good nest for the setting hen in quiet
place away from the flock, so that she
, viii HCI DC dtSIuIu tA- tDtC lIItl luC
nest is thoroughly disinfected. Nothing
initiates the setting hen so much as
lice or mites in the nest This condi-
ton often results in breaking up the her
and in extremely bad cases has caused
. the death of the hen. A satisfactory
> nest can be made by placing small
, amount of dirt in box and covering
with good layer of straw. Be sure
to make the nest roomy and fat on Tho
bottom.
: BY using hens for Matching the breed
ing problem is solved Here again i
, is very important that the hen be free
y from lice or there will be heavy los
= of chickens If one has no hens t
: set early or no incubator, it would b.
ID. well to arrange with some noighbor VIII,
: has an incubator to hatch the eggs.
While the incubator is running plan
:. must be made to care for the chicken
;, when they arrive. Many poultry ven
= lures fail because of lack of this sor
\ of preparation. If q large numb r q
', chickens are to be Matched, il wou Il b
= best to get one of the 20 o"v hroodc
- stoves having coal or OF hurnin
heater. Much less labor il invov,d /
caring for chickens with one of thes
stoves than with several small lam
hovJr>. II only few chickens are t
be raisrd one Of tie lamp hovcrs wi
Z do very H. With the colony broode
= stove he chick - viii gather croun
the s,oye At . point where the heat
most con Portable With the small lam
.. hover the chickens are more closely COZ
fined and the temperature has to
regulated to what we think best fC
tho chicks needs. A person can 500
;, tell whether the temperature. Of tt
- brooder is right by watching the actor
o. of the young chicks themselves. !
c, night if they lay down fiat on the flo'
n. of the brooder with heads away fro
the source of heat and with wings han
X ing loosely at the sides, the heat is co
tn rect. On the other hand, if their hea'
.e point towards the source of heat, the
or are standing up, crowded together,
:, bumped up, the temperature is n
NJ right. In the daytime the length
eff time that chick requires to get wal
lie tells whether the temperature is &C
&C rect or not Avoid temperatures viii
rpsult in the chicks remaining und