The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-02-18
b PROF.. r. II. sTONEBURN,


Poultry Editor N. Y. American.
Copyright. fs2s. by star Co.
Lots Of folks buy part or all Of
the chicks they require ready
made" They order the desired
number and kind Of chicks they
need from professional producers
and leave to the latter all the re.
sponsibiIity Of securing fertile eggs
and Matching the youngsters.
This plan works splendidly, ma
evidenced by the continuous and
rapid growth Of the baby chick in.
economical for those who do not
chicks 80 secured are usually very
good ones, well bred and well
Matched.
But there are vast numbers OF
people who are conducting poultry
breeding operations along definite
lines, and such wish to produce
chicks from their own matings
Then, too, there are many others
the poultry fans" who lind Joy
in their work in the poultry yard
and who want the fun and salts
faction Of breeding, Matching and
rearing their own chicks. All such
will naturally find use for the in.
cubator to relieve them from the
uncertainties Of the broody hens.
WHAT rs AN INCUBATOR?
There Is q curious lack Of infor.
nation In many circles regarding
equipment for artificially Matching
chicks: what It IL, what It viii do,
how 1t should be managed. How
long does It take them to hatch?'
and Cam you really hatch good
chicks in a machine?" are Ques-
tons which are asked countless
times.
Stripped Of all technicalities, the
incubator Ii merely q machine
which creates, in its egg chamber
practically the same conditions
which exist beneathk the broody
hen. It cares for temperature, ven
tilation and humidity, the three
great factors In incubation. There
Is no mystery about 1t. So to the
inquiries quoted above one may
say that 1t requires three weeks
to hatch hens eggs, and the chicks
from q properly managed incuba
tor, are really good chicks. II they
were not strong, healthy and wig
orous, many of our big poultry
farms would have closed up Ions
ago, since they have for years
used nothing but incubator chicks
One has wide latitude Of choice
|! when selecting an incubator. Ht
may decide between two types o.
IheatinE-hot air or hot water. HE
may order the tiny 60-egg, lamp
heated machine or the huge mann
moth of $4,000 eggs capacity, equip
ped with a coal-burning heater
And between these extremes are
machines Of any desired capacity.
When ordering an incubator 1t 4
a good plan to choose that par
ticular make which has given gen
eral satisfaction in the locality
There are two good reasons fol
this. First; such satisfaction 1ndl
Gates that the particular make II
well adapted to operate under tine
conditions maintaining locally; sec
ond, the beginner may. In case o.
necessity, seek help and advice from
neiRhbors who have had experience
with the identical piece OF appa,
ratus. I would make the matter OF
nrice secondary, because the IN
| vestnent of few extra dollars
at first means nothing If more and
better chicks are Sproduced eacn
hatch for several seasons.
The beginner will do well &c
operate any machine in exact &C
cordance with the instructions Lnr
nished by the manufacturer. Int
maker. Of all people, knows pes
how to manage his particular ma
chine. OF course, 1t sometimes
hapnens that slight changes In op
arafing methods may be mace e
advantage, but great caution snouis
be exercised when making suct
changes. +,,ao =,
the incubator itself, there are Ger
tain details Of management wnlct
NAV wen be observed. These are
briefly, as follows:
practical SUGGESTIONS.
Set the incubator in some loca
l+ion where the room Temperature
is reasonably constant. Do not pu
upon the authentic regulator tn
heavy duty Of properly controihni
the temperature of the macnm
when the room temperature Is con
stantly shifting. Also aVo4o