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Show SETTING UP AND OPERATING INCUBATOR I - r 1 tttu r v-w INCUBATOR CHICKS RUNNING OUT IN SPRING. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) February, March and April are the best months to hatch chickens, depending de-pending somewhat upon the individual, as well as the climatic conditions. Set up the incubator according to tho manufacturer's directions, and see that the machine is perfectly level. If a spirit level is not available, a long shallow pan of water set on top of the incubator can be used as a level to assist in setting up the machine. Be sure that all jiarts of tho incubator are In their proper positions and that the "regulator works freely. Do not plane off the door of the incubator, if it sticks, until the machine has been heated up and thoroughly dried. Run the machine .at about 102 degrees Fahrenheit for a day before putting In the eggs. It takes several hours for the machine to come back to its correct cor-rect temperature after the eggs are first put in ; therefore the regulator should not "be touched during that time. See to the regulation of the temperature of the incubator before opening .the door of the machine to attend at-tend to the eggs. Look to the care of the incubator carefully and regularly, regular-ly, but do not change the regulator any more than is - absolutely necessary. neces-sary. When the bulb of the thermometer rests directly on the -eggs the temperature. tem-perature. Is usually held at 101 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit the first week, 102 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit the second sec-ond week, and 103 degrees Fahrenheit Fahren-heit the third week; while a hanging thermometer is operated at about 102 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit the first two weeks and 103 degrees Fahrenheit Fahren-heit the last week. At hatching time the machine will frequently run up to 104 or 105 degrees Fahrenheit without with-out any Injury to the chickens. If the temperature has been right up to the hatching time, it is usually better not to change the regulator at that time, provided the temperature does not run above 105 degrees Fahrenheit. While the eggs will hatch just as well if the temperature is run slightly higher than noted above, throughout the hatch, the chickens are apt to be weak and hard to raise. In a good hatch the eggs will start to pip on the evening of the nineteenth nine-teenth day, and jnost of the chickens will be out of the shell on the morning of the twenty-first day. If the hatch is much earlier or later than this it indicates in-dicates that the conditions during incubation incu-bation have not been right. A high temperature may hatch eggs too quickly quick-ly and produce weak chickens, while a continuous low temperature throughout through-out the hatch will delay it for several hours. Use good oil. Clean and fill the lamp once daily, trimming tlie wick by scraping the charred portion off with a knife or square-edged nail, or by cutting the wick with scissors. Care of Machine at Hatching Time. After the eggs begin to hatch, leave the machine alone until the hatch is well over. Do not open tho door to see how the eggs are hatching, as it allows the moisture to escape, which Is very essential at this time. Keep the incubator incu-bator dark at hatching time by covering cover-ing the glass in the door with a cloth or burlap sack, so that the chicks will not be attracted to the front of the machine by the light and become restless. rest-less. When the chicks are all- hatched, remove the egg tray and open the ventilators, ven-tilators, according to the manufacturer's manufactur-er's directions, and keep them in the Incubator from 24 to 36 hours after the hatch is over before removing them to the brooders. If they are to be shipped a long distance away, so that they will be on the road two or three days, it is better to ship them as soon as the hatch Is over and the chicks are thoroughly dry. Chicks which pip, but are unable to get out of the shell by their own efforts, rarely rare-ly amount to much if helped out, although. al-though. If desired, when most of the eggs are hatched and the chicks dried 01T so that they will not be injured by opening the incubator door, any which have pipped may be helped out by cracking the shell -and placing them back on the egg tray. Turning and Cooling the Eggs. Eggs should be turned and cooled according to the directions furnished with the incubator. The eggs are usually usu-ally turned for the first time at the end of the second day of incubation and twice daily through the eighteenth and nineteenth day, or until the chicks commence to pip. After turning turn-ing the eggs, reverse the egg trays end for end, and from one side of the machine to the other In two-tray Incubators. Incu-bators. Keep the incubator door closed while turning the eggs, unless the directions state that it should be-left be-left open. The length of tfme to cool eggs depends upon the. temperature of the incubator room.' A good general rule is to leave the eggs out of the incubator in-cubator until they feel slightly cool to the hand, face, or eyelid... . Cool once daily after the seventh anil up to. the nineteenth day. Plflee the trays of eggs on the top of the macliine or on a table in such a positron that ffiey are not in- a draft, and so that the troy, does not project over the edge of its support, thereby allowing part of the eggs to cool much quicker than the rest. Moisture is used extensively in hatching in the South, in high altitudes, alti-tudes, and in places where the Incubator Incuba-tor is run in a dry room. Many methods meth-ods are used to supply -moisture in incubators, such as sprinkling the eggs with' warm water at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or . placing a -pan of water, a receptacle containing moist sand, or a wet sponge below the egg tray. Another common method of supplying sup-plying moisture is to sprinkle or soak the floor of the Incubator or to place a pail of water under the lamp. The eggs are tested with the lafge end up, so that the size of the air cell may be seen as well as the condition of the embryo. The testing. ..should take place In a dark room. ' The.infer-tile The.infer-tile egg when held before' the small hole with the lamp lighted inside the box will look perfectly clear, the. same as a fresh one, while a fertile egg will show a dark spot, known as the sm-bryo, sm-bryo, with a mass of little bood veins extending in all directions, if the embryo em-bryo is living ; if dead, and .the egg has been Incubated for at least 46 hours,-the hours,-the blood settles away from the embryo em-bryo toward the edges" of 'tiie yolk, forming in some cases an irregular ci-cle ci-cle of blood, known as a blood ring. Eggs vary in this respect, some showing show-ing only a streak of blood. AH infertile in-fertile eggs should be removed at the first test. The eggs containing strong," living embryos are dark and well filLed up to the fourteenth.vday, and show a clear, sharp, distinct; line, of demarcation demarca-tion between thei air cell and the growing grow-ing embryo, while dead germs show only partial development, and lack ius clear, distinct outline. ' Follow Directions. Follow the manufacturers' directions direc-tions In setting up and opening an incubator. See that the incubator is running steadily at the desired temperature before filling witli eggs. Do hot add fresh eggs to a tray containing eggs which are undergoing incubation. Turn the eggs twice daily after the second and until the nineteenth day. Cool the eggs once daily, according to the weather, from the seventh to the nineteenth day. ' ' Turn the eggs before caring for the lamps. Attend to the machine carefully at regular hours. Keep the lamp and wick clean. Test the eggs on the seventh and fourteenth days. Do not open the machine after the j eighteenth day until the chickens are hatched. |