POULTRY NOTES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 18 September 1909, Page 1

POULTRY NOTES.

(By "Buff.") j TURNING EGGS IN IXCUBATOBS. The "Sydney Daily Telegraph" publishes the opinions of several poultry breeders on tho question of turning eggs in incubators, and information on this point, from those well qualified to speak thereon, cannot fai: to be of interest. "Our practice." sai<l MV Ilnrtlinc tea, of the Grantham Poultry Farm, " is to turn twice a day after the first 48 hours, up to the 18th day. We have experimented with both more and less turning at various times, and our present system is based upon what our experience point to as the most satisfactory. At the same time, I must say that we found very little difference in results when only turning twice up to the ninth day, and once after. I certainly consider twice a day necessary up to the eighth or Mintli day at which time the euibryc turns itself. This is a fact not to be lost sight of in this connection. I conider that all turning or moving after that cruises more activity of the cmbryn itself, but have failed to find any improvement in hnlchinp; result* hy morn frequent tHrni:i<r<. lam <>'■ opinion that tlie more' virile the em bryo, the greater its activity during incubation, and', given ordinary turning, any, embryo adhering to the shell is a weakling in any case. I do not, consider that, the nonabsprption ol tbe yolk at hatching time is caused solely by insufficient turning. My idea is that imperfect absorption h iii.re weakness of the ei:ibryn, :ui<" lot -through adhesion to tho sh.-11. o: at any rate iv but a very small percentage of cases. And whatevei weakens the embryo, whether thr cause.be inert or contributed hy mi perfect incubation, the result is the same. It will bo noticed that the greatest trouble in this direction is experienced with winter-laid eggs The fact is, people expect too nmel', before Xatnre has reached ils best We always find a consistent bicrense n percentages in our halt-Vi"--- *;"' !>o middle of August onward." "I tried turning them only once "some years ago," says Mr James Stewart, "and found no difference in percentage, but I only tried it one season. Last year I turned twice, and had good results. This year, being prescd for time, T am only turning onee — result, 81 por cent, from the first two machines, the rest 79. (IP, 58, and 43. The last one I have reason to believe is a defective machiue, as it gave nad returns each r.me last season." "It has been demonstrated at this college." remarked Mr D. S. Thomp son. poultry expert, Hawkesbury A<r ricultnral College, "that sitting he;turn their eggs frequently, equal t. as much as four complete revolutions in 24 hours. The turning is very slight, perhaps, about a quarter of

an inch each movement, and the movements are very frequent, both night and day. This we try io imitate as Marly as possible in the machines. We have invariably found the best results from turning morning • and evening, not quite half a revolution oach time. In machines that do not admit much oxygen better results would- be obtained in turning more frequently than even twice a day." Mr J. M'lntosh, Rockdale, turns tho eggs in his incubators once a day only during the whole time, and he says he has always been so satisfied with the hatching results obtained that ha does not intend trying any other' method. He can hardly understand anyone engaged in practical poultry-farming suggesting that it should 'be done five times (at least), as advocated by the St. Louis University, as the result of their tests. Further, after a vcrj- long trial with both hens and machines, he is convinced the latter are equally as effec tive as the birds, as the losses throng!' breakages in the case of hens offer, reduces their average considerably. "In regard to turning eggs in in cubators, Ido not believe that yor «an be governed by any rule. Sue cess only comes to those who from long experience aud closo attention 'enow what is Ihe best method to idopt under varying conditions. Personally, I find that turning once :> -l av is best." — Mr W, Haydon, Tlurst ville. "I have hatched tho possible 100 per cent. — every fertile egg — twice in 15 years," said Mr S. Gordon, o' St. Ives. "In my own design of incubator aud working to my own thought-out plans, 95 and 97 per cent arc often repeated. With me 9( ipr cent, is quite common. 1 have ?ot up to 97 per cent, this j'ear, and if I don 't get over 90 ncr cent. lam not satisfied; in fact, I have never | had a bad hatch since I adopted my own plans. As for once a day turn■ng; I havo tried all ways, and the "onclusion I have come to is that thr more you roll the eggs about the more chicks yon will get out. Tdo not ro" tognise the word turning in this connection. I simply give them p . »ood rolling or mixing up, taking thr outside eggs and putting them ir , '.he middle and forcing the middle ' -•nes to the outside. I give them r really good roll about five or six times daily, or at lcats threo times. I believe this to be the most important Of course some eggs may not stand it; but if the shells are not strong it is the breeder's fault, and not the bird's. Again, I gay they need not , crack the shells when rolling. Idr not cool — just put the draw back when finished. In my early days of hatching X used to feed all wheat for grain, and I found the inner skin of the shell very tough; but since I have been feoding a good deal of i maize .to my breeders I have experi enced a good deal of difference ir this respect." I