The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1926-01-22

BEST MANAGEMENT
OF AN INCUBATOR

The incubator should De placeO In
room to itself when possible. A good
cellar or basement Is the best place.
The machine should be set perfectly
level, then run for at least two days anS
nights before the eggs are placed in
1t. 1t is a good plan to place paper
over the egg tray when testing out the
machine. When the incubator Is
empty, the thermometer will read
little lower than it would IL the ma
chine were full, for when the eggs be-
come warmed they raise the temper
AZURE slightly. By using the paper
over the tray fairer test will be
secured.
The temperature in the egg chamber
| should be brought up to 103 de-
grees and the regulator adjusted
so that it will automatically con-
troll the temperature and main
| tain 1t. A sort of balance is thus
| obtained between the adjustment OF
! the regulator and the lamp. The damp
| er should stand an eighth of an inch
above the flue, allowing the tempera-
ture in the room to vary somewhat
without extra adjustment of the lamp.
Do not attempt to refill the lamp
while it is attached or lighted. Fill the
| lamp at about the same hours each
morning. Leave about a quarter of an
| inch In the lamp bowl not filled with
Oil. Trim the wick with a pair of
| shears, cutting off the corners to pre-
vent the flame spreading to sides of
chimney and sooting it. See that the
burner is firmly clasped, and the chin
ney set straight on the burner and into
heater fiue.
! When the machine has been working
properly for "a hours, fill the tray with
eggs, but never place eggs on top of
each other. Use eggs of uniform size,
| good shell, and not more than ten
days old-the fresher the better.
Morning is good time to fill the
tray and start the hatch so the ma
chine may be watched. 1t must be re-
membered that it requires several
hours for the eggs to become warmed
and for the machine to regain the
proper temperature.
Visit the machine three times daily
and oftener if convenient. Before re
firing at night see that the lamp Is
! burning and the temperature is right
The eggs should be turned twice
daily after the first "a hours. These
turnings should be as nearly the same
time apart as possible and should con-
tinue until the nineteenth day.
The testing should be done in d
darkened room or after night, as a
better view of the condition of the
eggs can be obtained. Do not test
the eggs in a cold room. The eggs
should be tested on the eighth day, or
If you are not experienced In testing
it Is better to wait until the tenth day.
By this time the development of the
chick should be far enough advanced
that the fertile eggs can be distin-
guished readily from the infertile ones.
An infertile egg will be perfectly clear
and should be removed from the ma.
chine. The fertile will show a spider.
like formation, center with crooked
1 LII Cduoy anu ILLS Will lOdt do luS CSS
Is turned.
Test again on the fourteenth day.
Sometimes the egg will show fertile
but the germ may die and can be dis
covered on the second test. If the
black spot shows red lines coming to-
gether in a circle (blood ring), the
germ is dead All eggs showing this
will not hatch so should be removed.
Ali the chicks should hatch within
"a hours. If the machine has been
running properly, the hatch should be
complete on the morning Of the TWEEN
ty-second day. Only weaklings hatch
after that. The hatch may be delayed
by accident or by low temperature.
In such cases, the hatch may be "a to
SO hours late. While delayed matches
are not total loss, they seldom produce
strong chicks.
The egg chamber should be disin-
fected thoroughly between matches and
new wick for the lamp should be
provided for each hatch.-T. w. No
land, Director of the Missouri State
Poultry Experiment Station, Noun
tain Grove.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~