The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-02-06
MCUBAT0RS AND BROOD
ERS FOR PROFITABLE
CHICKEN RAISING

Clemson College, S. C.-Recent
ly many letters have been re
.ceived by the Poultry Division asking
for information relative to the use Of
i%ncubators and breeders in Matching
and rearing chickens. The high cost
Of poultry foods and the great demand
for fresh eggs and frys have convinced
poultry raisers that it will pay to use
a dependable system to obtain chicks
this year.
The old sitting hen will not work
when we want her to. She and hel
friends refuse to go broody in January
and February, but they fill every avail
able nest as soon as the weather turns
warm and the time of Matching the
best chickens is over.
my hens would not sit early and
could not buy any early s~itters," is
heard every summer and fall by own.
ers of little chickens.
Any n who likes poultry can op
crate an incubator successfully. It is
necessary to turn the eggs morning
and night and fill the lamp once a day
It is not necessary to examine a good
machine more often than two OF three
times daily, when the above work can
be done.
Every incubator is equipped with q
thermostat to regulate the tempera'
ture.
The more popular types OF kerosene
lamp incubators are heated by hot air,
although there are some good styles
heated by the circulation OF hot water.
The main advantage Of the hot air ma
chine is that of durability.
The past year has found the electric
incubator springing rapidly to the
front. This machine can now be OBJ
tanned for use ON any voltage. It is
also made to be used with one Of the
home lighting systems found on many
South Carolina farms. The cost OF
operating an electric incubator Is 40
greater than that OF a lamp machine.
The temperature a be maintained
at a uniform degree and the machine
can be placed in any room OF the
house.
It is usually found that a profitable
size incubator to buy is with a
capacity Of about 240 eggs. The size
containing from 12o to $50 eggs is also
popular with poultrymen who do not
desire to raise more than 200 or 300
chickens a year. However, a large in.
cubator when only onshalf filled w.
give as good Matching results as
smaller machine, 50 that a big ma
chine gives you an opportunity to
hatch eggs tor others or hatch sufi.
cient chicks to sell the surplus to your
neighbors. The best size for an cleo
tic machine is about 150 eggs. Just
now these machines III rather high
IN price owing to little competition,
but it is hoped that within a short time
the price OF the electric will be about
the same as the lamp-heated incubator.
The better types OF incubators are
built with double walls with n inch
or more OF insulating material between
the walls. This prevents the Temporal
ture of the egg chamber. being affect,
ed vitality by changes Ia the outside
temperature Of the room. The cheap
er incubatQrs have simply a single
wall or a double wall with a piece OF
pasteboard between. 1t does not pay
to buy the cheaper incubators made in
this way.
Some machines have a separate
compartment below the eggs into
which the chicks drop as soon as they
are Matched. This b q convenience,
but it il OF no special advantage.
The average number OF chicks
hatched from the eggs placed IN an
incubator Is about onelbAf. When
you buy an incubator it Is wen to Or
der one or more portable Breeders, al
lowing so chicks to each brooder. Most
Of the manufacturers rate the capacity
Of their brooders at about twice as
many chicks az they will satisfactorily
Fear.
These portable breeders are about
two feet in diameter and stand on
three cast iron legs. The kerosene
lamp is under one side and a WOODEN
curtain surrounds the lower part OF
Tire brooder. The baby chicks push
under this wooden curtain and the
heat Of the lamp keeps the inside OF
the brooder at the required tempera-
hlne OF ninety to n~inety-fve degrees.
It is a simple matter to raise m
cold weather almost all the chickens
Ia a. brooder Of this kind when 1t is
placed in a bright room. Later on in
the season when the days begin to get
warm, the portable hover is preferably
out in a. small wire front house.
An incubator and one or more brood
ers will enable any n to hatch
chicks when he wants them. Febru-
lry and March r the two best hatch
ing months of the spring season. Pull
lots Matched these months will COM
IN Low, IL, tho aar1v fall and con-