INCUBATION METHODS

Evening Post, Issue 86, 11 April 1936, Page 23

INCUBATION METHODS

CUSTOM HATCHING

There is nothing new about artificial incuba:ion. The Chinese and others have practised it for thousands of years with far better results than "old biddy" can produce. But it was not until just, about the pre-war period that mammoth incubators became popular in the United States, bringing with their use the establishment of hatcheries or specialised incubation. Such establishments are usually situated in the: centre of a thickly poultry, populated area and it is their business just to turn,'fertile eggs into chicks. They do not as a rule keep any fowls, but purchase fertile eggs from special suppliers" at a premium above , the usual rate for fresh eggs. Of late years more care: has been taken of the quality of the. fertile eggs used for incubation and,the hatchery manager is usually a poultry specialist who can advise his suppliers on breeding points and by out-of-season supervision of the breeding farms flocks make certain that only fertile eggs from good-quality breeding stock are supplied.;

Captain Mann, of Sydney, recently retired from the poultry business, secured the Australian agency for a line of mammoth electric incubators after a visit to the States about 1928 and following their manufacture in Sydney the Australians quickly installed this type of incubator in preference to the old table-top sectional machines. Other specialists patented models of mammoth incubators and in recent years many have been imported to New Zealand. At the present time two makes are made in New Zealand, one being assembled on behalf of an Australian maker, and the other being wholly designed and built in Christchurch. That these electric mammoths are an asset to the poultry industry is easily, shown by their quick introduction. Already some poultrymen have incubators with a capacity of 30,000' eggs at one setting. Management is made more simple, eggs are set every few days, production costs are lowered, the risk from fire is overcome, and the demand for chicks hatched during the ideal hatching months is moce easily supplied. Whether or not specialised hatcheries will ever develop in this country is problematical, but most unlikely. Certainly breeder-hatcheries are already quite common and quite a few poultrymen who have installed large machines have found that they must purchase fertile eggs in order to keep their machines lull during the peak season.

BUYING IN FERTILE EGGS.

There is no dishonesty or crime in purchasing fertile eggs in order to meet the demand for day-old chicks. If the buying public expect high-qual-ity stock from cheap day-old chicks they must learn otherwise. Keen competition and a demand for cheap chicks have created: in other countries much trouble for the poultry' industry, in that due attention has not been paid to the quality of the fertile eggs incubated to produce these cheap chicks. Rather than buy eggs, some poultrymen have mated up every available female on their farms in order to have enough fertile eggs. Such practice is a long stretch from the advice of poultry experts who recommend breeding only from selected hens. Again, breeding stock should' have' the right environment; they should have free range and not be housed intensively or kept on small bare earth runs. Is it then unwise that breeders requiring more eggs should seek out flock owners with good stock 'on free range from which to secure supplies of eggs? Provided that such flocks are inspected periodically and a definite contract is made, the .buying in of such eggs is all for the benefit of the purchaser of day-old chicks. In the States it is not uncommon for the poultrymanhatcher to supply pedigreed males to those farmers who supply him with fertile eggs, thus ensuring a supply of good eggs of a certain, strain, or of the hatcheryman's own strain. The public must realise that while fertile eggs can be turned into day-old chicks easily, and at no great cost, there is a real responsibility covering the breeding stock that produces the fertile eggs and this is where much of the overhead costs occur in the day-old chick trade. While day-old chicks may be offered at prices ranging from £3 10s to £10 per 100, the public are warned that cheap chicks may prove very expensive in the long run. The cost of the day-old chick is only a small proportion of the total cost of rearing a pullet, and it is most unwise to attempt to economise on the chick prices. A weak chick, or a chick from inferior quality breeding stock will cost as much, if not more, to rear than a chick fro"m selected matings, and even when reared the poorer quality chicks will not give nearly so good returns from egg production. Competition for orders of day-old ■ chicks is becoming very keen, but breeders will only cause untold harm if they encourage too much price-cutting in an endeavour to secure orders. There is no section of poultry stud sales which gives rise to more complaints than the sale of day-old chicks, ,since the rearing of. chicks is indeed a work which requires some experience and a mighty lot of common sense, more especially when an attempt is made to rear large numbers

CUSTOM HATCHING,

Custom hatching, or the hatching of fertille eggs by a poultryman-hatchery on behalf of a customer, is becoming quite popular in New Zealand. The smaller egg producers find that their troubles can be reduced by doing away with any responsibility regarding incubation. All they do is to produce their fertile eggs and send them to the hatchery and in due course receive back the resulting day-old chicks. The charge for hatching is not nearly so much as would be the overhead expenses of running a small incubator. It is quite safe to say that the sales of new small incubators will receive a decided check during the next few years, since there will be a number of second-hand machines made available by the introduction of the .large electric mammoth incubators. ■ ■ '

Then there is another advantage of custom hatching over the purchase of day-old chicks. Some poullrymen have found that the quality of the chicks they have been able to procure during the past few years is not good enough and they prefer to have chicks from their own selected stock. A small poultryman can select a few special breeders, and send the eggs from these each week to a hatchery for incubation. Thus he will secure chicks which he is certain come from good breeding stock of his own mating.

Since incubator space is always at a premium during the months of July and August, those who intend having their eggs custom hatched should make application for space early in the sea-

son, and an attempt >,should be made to have sufficient breeding stock to supply a full tray of fertile eggs once weekly. Some hatcherymen charge as much for half a tray of eggs as for a full tray, since it is imperative that a customer's eggs must be kept separate from any others,;-if not during incubation, then certainly during the actual hatching time. :J>;