POULTRY NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 160, 8 July 1932, Page 13

POULTRY NOTES.

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION. SMALL MACHINES. GENERAL WORKING DESTRUCTIONS.

(By ORPINGTON.)

Tho artificial incubation of eggs seems to be worrying many of tho readers of these columns. In the first place one does not need to bo in a big way to make profitable use of an incubator. The fact is that incubators which hold a reasonably small number of eggs can be purchased. A lifty-egg incubator,, under average conditions, will only hatch out about 17 pullets, so that can be a guide to tho breeder. Experienced poultrymen allow 33 1-3 per cent for infertiles and dead in shell, and that leaves 00 2-3 per cent of healthy hatchings, which usually are about equally proportioned as regard the sex. Care must be taken in storing eggs for the incubator. Tho small breeder may tako a little time to fill his incubator and it must bo noted that two weeks is tho limit that eggs for artificial incubation can bo kept, ev<?n in the best conditions, with any hope of obtaining satisfactory results. The incubator should be put in a room or shed in which a fairly even temperature can be maintained. In setting up tho incubator eee, that it is placed quito level, and use a spirit level to ensure this. Follow the maker's directions closely regarding the temperature, tho management of the lamp, and sanitation, and the following detailed working instructions: — Working Instructions. Heating Up. —When starting the incubator, the temperature should be raised to 103 degrees Fahrenheit, and maintained at that level for about twelve hours before putting in the eggs, after which it is ae well to allow another twelve hours for them to become heated through before attempting to regulate the temperature. Temperature. —A temperature of 102 degreee Fahrenheit should be maintained during the first week, after which it may be increased to 103 degrees, and continued at this level until the eggs begin to chip, which may occur ae early as the nineteenth day. The temperature can then be increased to 10-1 degreee or even 105 degreee until the hatch is finished. The bulb of the thermometer should stand just clear of the eggs. Turning.—lt is not necessary to turn the eggs during the first 30 hours, after which they should be turned twice daily up to the ninth day at least, but afterwards only once a day is neceesary. There is no harm, however, in turning them twice a day until the time of chipping, when turning should cease.

The importance of turning eggs is not always recogniecd. The idea is to keep the embryo in different positions to prevent it adhering to tho shell. This is one caufie of dead germs and deformities in chickens. Moreover, the heat in lamp incubators is applied from the top, and turning ensures equal distribution on all parte of tho egg. When the egg becomes advanced in incubation, frequent turnings are not so neceesary as in the early stages.

Cooling.—Cooling of the eggs should commence after the sixth day, and thie can be done by leaving the trays out of the incubator for a few minutes at firet, gradually increasing the time of cooling as the hatch progresses, so that towards the end of the hatch they are allowed to cool for 15 to 20, or even 30, minutes, according to the temperature of the room. It is not advisable, however, to cool tliem for 30 minutes ae a regular practice, and cooling should ceaee when the first egg ie chipped.

Testing.—After about the sixth day of incubation the egge can quite easily bo tested to eliminate the infertile. There are many ways of testing the eggs, a simple method being to cut a hole in the wall of the incubator room on the sunny side and place over it a sheet of plain glass; the eggs can then be held up to the hole for inspection. It is necessary, of course, to darken the room so that the contents of the egg are clearly visible. Where electric light is available, a hole cut in a table, and with an electric bulb placed underneath, can be used in the same way. .Small egg teeters are also available from sellers of poultry equipment. Ventilation. —In incubators which have controllable ventilators, the ventilators should be opened gradually after the sixth day, increasing the amount of ventilation as tlie batch progresses, but closing up the ventilators again at the first sign of chipping. After chipping commences, the door of the incubator should be kept closed until the liatch ie over. If frequently opened, drying out will result and a bud hatch ensue. In cases of an exceptionally good hatch causing too much crowding:, it may be necessary to open the door quickly and remove most of the chicke. Moisture. —With a good incubator room and a well-insulated machine there should be no need to apply moisture unless much ventilation is allowed. In other words, there is sufficient moisture in the egg if it is conserved. In some types of machines provision is made for supplying moisture, either by using damp sand or water placed in trays in the incubator. In such cases it is as well to follow the manufacturer's directions. Dead in the Shell. It is inevitable that a percentage of fully-formed chicke will be found dead in the shell, and although there are many known causes to account for a high percentage of euch deaths during incubation, there is room for research work in connection with this problem. Much of this trouble is accentuated by faulty management or poor-class breeding stock, or any adverse treatment the cogs may be subjected to in the incu-! bator. The novice is often concerned that the shell of the eggs is too hard or thick, but the fact is that even a weak embryo may form into a chick, but it is only the strong chickens that can emerge from an egg. The idea that lack of moisture is the eole cause of "dead in the shell" is common because of the noticeable drying of the shell membrane after the egg is pierced. This drying occurs, no matter what is the cause, ami no amount of moisture would m;i!<e any difference. Insufficient moisture must, therefore, be regarded as only one possible cause of the trouble. Such factors as fluctuations of temperature during the hatch or a very high or low range are often responsible for a rate of deaths in. the lehelL