VOL. LX.
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 27, 1905.
NO. 21
__xV8xXzutz gzvixxtmzuL
EXPERIENCE   WITH    INCUBATORS  AND
BROODERS.
Had Trouble   With Brooders.
1st Premium.—Though I had studied
the principles of artificial incubation for
several years before, I never had the
p.actical experience previous to the spring
of '07, at which time I bought my first
incubator i nd brooder. The incubator
was of 100 egg capacity, and the brooder
was, supposed (by the manufacturer) to
take oare of the chicks, which was very
erroneous  indeed. My   first  discovery
was that it was easy to hatch chicks ar-
youugest are three weeks old to-day, and
the oldest six weeks old, 230 of the latter
living. Have two incubators, one 200
11 ml the other 220 egg capacity. They
give   mc   no   trouble   whatever. After
having filled them with as good eggs as I
know how to produce, and adjusted regulators properly, I pay little attention to
them, except fill and trim lamps once a
day, turn eggs twice (whicli is quickly
■lone, if you know how) nir eggs once, look
at thermometers about morning, noon and
night.
At night I can go to bed and sleep. I
would not have an incubator that was not
capable of taking care of itself over night.
The incubator question docs not worry
me in the least.     There nre many makes
being such a variety of conditions connected with different surroundings.
Being without a cellar, I set my incubator in a well lighted room Uiat can also
be thoroughly ventilated, and still not allow the sun to shine on tlie machine.
Fresh air is requisite to (lie healthy development of the little fluffy chicks that
we nil so much admire, but if the sun
shines on the incubator, it increases the
dilllculty of keeping the temperature right.
I have found that, to get the best
hatches, there are several things to consider. The first is to have good, fertile eggs from healthy chickens, tliren a
good incubator, ami also to see that the
machine   is   properly   cared   for. The
eggs must not be allowed to get too hot,
be kept clean, which requires that they
l>e cleaned as often as every other day.
Then it is all important to keep the temperature correct. If the brooder gets
too cool, the little fellows will crowd and
he likely to trample some to deatli; bo-
sides a chilled chick is about as good as
a dead one. And if the brooder becomes
overheated, the chicks get so hot that
when then get out in the air they take
cold. Kither too much heat or cold is
detrimental   to   a   chick.
Hamilton Co. A. T. B.
Put Incubator in the Cellar.
3d Premium.—Three seasons ago I
bought a high grado hot air incubator to
experiment with.        I got it early in tho
-*
ii
tifiirp.-
.rrzMjj____
_attame--.--    «~-J*»iB*'«
.':   • *-.  >7r <*'*"-™"***y*;**-3
- .j. **  " ,.*■ - '      w-*1*
i < * -**   u**  - - ■ ■ - ^ (
*Xi:s*&~*ts',*    -    . ", .   ^' ~
^i*^ii**s^i*%i_^__^, vs, ss*^.*~.r: %~
•gmggg?
3«*T»2fi
The New Coliseum, the Home of the  International     Live    Stock     Exposition,    Chicago.
tihci.iiiy, but a very different proposition
to raise '.hem.
Judging by my first brooder, I concluded that all brooders were a fake,
which idea clung to me for several years.
I did uot wish to repeat my first experience—not too suddenly at least—after
my horrid experience of coming out in
the morning after my first glorious hatch,''
to find that the light in my brooder had
lieen blown cut by the first little puff of
wind that came for my special benefit
alter I had Tetired. Now, imagine my
consternation, on lifting the lid of that
brooder, to find that f>0 of my 150 dear
littlo Plymouth Rocks had passed to another clime.
If I remember just right, I longed to
see the manufacturer of that brooder in
a very hot place, I having the privilege
of stirring the coals. Yes, nnd those
remaining hundred, with just a little
breath left, looking up into my face,
"chirp, chirp," as though they were calling to their mother, made me hot, but it
didn't seem to warm them any. Now
you know that a chilled chick is a dead
chick. Hence, two days after my first
incubator hatch, out of 150 healthy chicks
I did not have one live chick. But that
was not all. My second experience, I
mean with the same incubator and brooder, was just about the same as the first.
Then I utilized the_ old brooder for hens'
nests.
I now have four brooders in operation,
all doing good work. Could not think
of doing without them. Shall add more
next season. At present have 492 living chicks out of 522, having lost 30. The
of splendid  machines. I  mean  incuba
tors—will not say that of brooders.
I think there nre very few good brooders, and those who have tlie right principles of a brooder seem to get careless in
the manufacture of them, nnd sometimes
they reach you in a very imperfect state.
I consider a brooder of very much more*
importance than the incubator, for what
is the use of squandering eggs, oil and
time, if you cannot raise the chicks?
The person who, by reading poultry
literature, becomes enthused to the point
of suddenly and without experience cm-
bsfrking in the poultry business, certainly,
must come to grief, for I think it is one
of the finest of arts. I am in it because I like it. I like the chick in the
yard, and I like it on the table; and who
don't? In conclusion will say, do not
hatch more than you have the facilities to
raise. In  other  words,   have  at  least
three brooders to one 200 egg incubator.
Miami Co. E. D. Z.
Has Less Trouble Than With Hens.
2d Premium.—I have used an incubator
and brooders for the last six years, and
have fouml them much less trouble than
to have the care of so many hens. Of
course, to make a success, one must have
good machines, and as they are all claimed to be best it is hard to decide which
kind to buy. I have been successful
with the hot-water machine, both incubator and brooder. Tliere are always directions sent out with the machines, which
we are to follow, but not blindly, ns it
is necessary to use some good, common
sense, even  in  running  incubators,  there
nor too cold, and should be frequently aired and cooled. If the temperature is
allowed to get too high, it is likely to
kill the weaker germs; and if run too low,
it causes a lagging hatch, so the chicks
do not grow right, and consequently do
not all get out of the shell. I have had
hatches where every fertile egg hatched.
When turning the eggs, night and
morning, I always leave them out—a few
minutes at the first, and a longer period
as the incubation advances, till near the
close I air ami cool them for half an hour
or more, according to the weather. Nearly all incubators are claimed to supply
the necessary moisture, but I have found j
iu my experience that, unless it is a very
damp time, it is a help, while the chicks
nre hatching, to set n pan of hot water
under the incubator for a short time, the
steam supplying the needed moisture. I
prefer this way to putting water into the
egg   chambers. I   nlwnys   remove   tlie
chicks from the incubator several times
during the hatch, ns there is no nursery
iu my mnchine, nnd the little fellows soon
get too hot, if we may judge from the
way they pant. I have used several
makes of brooders, and have come to the
conclusion that those supplying top heat
suit me best. When bottom heat is also
given the floor of the brooder might become so wnrm that thechicks become over
heated, which causes bowel trouble. The
brooder should be good and warm, ready
to receive the little fellows by the time
they are 24 hours old.
sVfter chicks are put in the brooder,
do not think the trouble is all over, because it is not.        The brooders have to
spring, ami I set it a going in the cellar.
I hatched 00 per cent of the fertile eggs,
imd I raised a satisfactory per cent of
chicks. The next time I filled it, I put
it in the barn, a warm .barn too, and got
a very good hatch, but the chicks were
not so strong as the first hatch and I lost
40 per cent of them. So I filled it again,
ami put it in the sitting room, and lost 50
per cent. So I put it back in tho cellar,
nnd that is the place for incubntion. From
SO to 00 per cent of the fertile eggs will
hatch in the cellnr, becnuse no cool nir
can get in or out, and the temperature
seldom changes. Little chicks must be
kept clean, dry and warm, and havo
healthful nourishment and exercise. They
should not be removed from tlie incubator
until they are thoroughly dry, and then
placed immediately in the brooder, which
lias been previously provided with clean
paper in the bottom, covered with one-
half inch doep of elenn, dry sand, and
heated to about 90 degrees. The paper
prevents filth from sticking to the bottom,
and the sand keeps the chicks clean and
dry. Both paper and sand should be
changed every other day. In regulating
the heat, watch its effect on the chicks.
If they huddle together and cry, they are
too cold; if they lift their wings and pant,
they are too wnrm. There is much danger
of overheating them and then letting them
get chilled. If a chilled chick does not
die immediately, it Seldom reaches maturity. C. A. U.
New Jersey.
No. 482,  June 3.—Show the  difference
Continued on page 9.