A.tifICIAL INCUBATION.

New Zealand Mail, 20 August 1902, Page 46 (Supplement)

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.

(By Buff Orpington.)

• essential requisite iu artificial incubating is good eggs from strong, healthy stock. Without good, fertile eggs, the best incubator made, and operateu oy tne most scientific expert, must fail. The machine for artificial incubation has been brought to such perfection that, given good eggs it will bring out a larger percentage of chicks than the hen. The incubation or an egg is really a mechanical process; and if those laws which govern it are understood thoroughly, and obeyed, c . an supply all the needs by mechanical contrivances, and imitate Natuie so closely that tlie results are much in favour of artificial hatching. If it weie only that a large percentage is obtained, the gain i s worth having; but when we consider also that the incubator chicks come into the world free from verthis alone we would take the artificial method every time. Little more than a decade ago, the matter of artificial incubation was regarded as impracticable. But clever inventors set to work, and now every child knows that artificial incubation is a success beyond the wildest dreams of even tlie inventors. To-day many millions of chicks and ducks, and other domestic fowls, owe their life and growth, to the incubator and brooder. Incubation is now so simplified, and practised so successfully everywhere, that anyone can engage in the rearing of poultry by tt *3. method. A bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agriculture to the farmers of the country says: /The rearing of fowls in large numbers, for egg production, is quite out of the question, unless these machines (incubators and brooders) are used. No experienced poultryman at the present time will undertake to rear fowls in large numbers, for the production of eggs, and depend upon the hen that lays the eggs for incubation. The Mediterranean fowls (Leghorns, etc.) cannot be depended upon for natural incubation, and artificial incubation must bo resorted to if these fowls are to be reared in large numbers."

A wording to the published statistics /iqflO)°of the same department, we find * fi cures which convey an idea of the of the poultry business in 25. The growth dates from the adincubator The value of the 5* ° a f n f e^ at °business (1901) was to buy up in one year, all the 58..!S 8 ..! silver dug from- her mines. It fas more than thlt; add to those two minerals the cotton crop the potato crop, and the tobacco crop, and still we have a surplus of 130 million dollars to spare The American cackling hen is the greatest wealth producer in . the world, and the S of the industry has no parallel. The writer knows of fortune after fortune piled up by those engaged in it, and many other men who are netting from .£SOO to J 21500 a year clear There £ nothing more certain than that there is money in the poultry business, a 3 a regular occupation, or simply as a side issue There are plenty of men and women who, with but one incubator in use make an annual profit that runs mto three figures, and who are at the same time engaged in other business. We know of scores of instances when the meubator in the hands of the farmer’s wife has saved the farm from the bailiff. The industry is growing every day. The demand is universal, for there is not a man woman, or child in the land to-dav who’is not a patron of tho industry in some form or other. Of course it needs labour and application, the expenditure of energy, and abundant common-sense, but the same is needed in every business which can bq named.

Turning from the practical side to the side of pleasure. It is, indeed a captivating pastime to assist Nature in the work of creation. It is more—it is thrilling to watch the first evidences of a life that vou have actually called into being and that you know you are the master of. Follow the development of the vital germ right on, step by step, till in twenty-one days you observe it force its way out of the shell, and there, standing in full view, is a living creature, vigorous and hearty, and full of life to overflowing, a being really of yonr own creation. Still furthe it grows till it becomes mature. The breeding of the new strains, crossbreeding and watching results, developing any peculiarities, and being always on the watch to start out in some unbeaten track, lhere are a thousand diffe ent methods by which you may add to the pleasure of poultry raising. GOOD FERTILE EGGS. Being the first and most important factor in artificial incubation, we will show how to get them. When designing to get fertile eggs we need to go back of tin care and food to the blood. It is impossible to take the common dunghill-fe fowl, whose brothers and sisters have been inbreeding for generations, and expect to get from them strong and health' clucks. We can certainly, in a machine of faultless construction, coax a small percentage of these to hatch; but it mus J be remembered the little weaklings have to he coaxed still further to live to maturity, and this cannot be accomplished with a system predisposed to disease from birth. If' they do live to maturity will they lay as well as good stock? Such cannot be exnected. They ar e a loss right from the start.

Now, when buying stock to breed from select some breeder who has for years been breeding for strong vigorous biras ana who lias allowed his growing’ stock free range. Good blood is good, and at the same time is important, but free range is more important, for there is a Wide difference between eggs from stock raised on free range, and- those from the hen raised m a small yard a few feet square and pampered and coaxed when growing. The writer has visited many yards of fine fowls—fine to look at—but the test conies after tlie fowls have produced eggs and they are placed in the incubator and still later when the chicks nave to be brooded. We would say again, •vi v a sma h percentage from such will live to maturity if those fowls (breeders) have not been allowed their freedom when putting on frame and muscle. It is possible to get good results from fowls fastened up in small pens, provided they have the constitution to start with, and they are made to take abundant exercise. Exercise is the watchword for the poultry raiser from start to finish. Do not sacrifice good frame and iorm for the choice of some fancy points or a feather or two. Get quality rather than quantity.

. 4* ter selection the next step is to keep the birds in good health by care and attention. To do this it is not essentml to give them an elaborate house with gilt lacing and all that. They will nou do any better nor lay more eggs if lieV^n 6 10 f e m? gilded Avith the costliest gold leaf. They need a house with a good warm roosting room and a propersmed scratchmg-shed, the value of which is greater than anyone realises. This scratchmg-shed provides the fowls with an exercise yard and shelter during the too,m eatller and still them all the fiesfi air possible. Plans for a viNeif / constnic t ed laying house will be hum \ i° Ur ? ustomers - These can he built so cheaply now that there is little dition 9 to v any< fv. 6 Y h \ S hcmses in no conflnl m bee P the fowls in proper health. P ar , advice is, if you cannot give the fowls these first elements necessarv to success, do not start till you can. 7 tL ° layers Properly housed, the next step m successful artificial incuhaoSm «‘Sr a 'dSS&S UmS “irk f it"" 4 at alt consul V 1 1 be notlced that they will &355 I this much ff nf ‘Without plenty of and no bird l go t 0 fvaste> its food proSrlV graiacan digest P ] °at? of good sharp grit Pr ° Vlded with portant^than^tlfn £® ed is more im®ats must hi tot 3 uantl ty- Wheat and their by-products fc lly °u fare > and

they will take; in the morning tfrey will be hungry, the very thing desired. "A hungry fowl means a healthy fowl. A s soon as they come from the roost, grain is thrown amongst the litter of straw in the scratching-shed; the litter should be six inches or so deep. They are kept busv scratching and hunting for their food all the morning. If you feed any other way they will gobble it up all at once, and then sit found and probably get indigesu n " i ■^°i ; ®° w k en they are forced to take abundant exerciso. Green food and plenty of it, should be feed at noon. Gut clover, cabbage, turnips, potatoes, mu h® da i £en with the keenest relish. The clover forms the staple green food. Green bone is also essential. It contains a large percentage of fat. Green bone and green food are necessary for good ?ffd production; eggs from stock confined m small yards and not supplied with them are unfit for incubation. This is true whether the eggs are for artificial or natural incubation.

Next, how to get th o egg fertile? The writer has frequently bought eggs, and 20 per cent, of them, have proved to be infertile. There is a cause for this, and it is improper mating, ,'ihe fact is overlooked that on the part of the male, there is a great chance that he will have his favourites, and will shun some. If the hen invites copulation fertility is then always assured. The plan found to be the best by the writer, and indeed by all the largest and most successful breeders he is acquainted 'with, is to mate m the proportion of on© male to ten female®—thus, put 20 females in one yard and two males, placing the males in day or half a day about. The secret is that hens are mated according to the ideas of the owner and not to the liking of the hen, and when the male forces his attention upon the female, the power is quite lost, and the result is of course an infertiie egg. By the change of anales in this way the chances are greatly increased that one of them will be to the liking of the hen. By this plan 95 per cent, to 98 per cent, of fertile eggs can be assured. It also has the effect that it keeps the males from becoming sluggish. An under-fed cock will lack vitality, and bis amorous propensity will be greatly reduced; while if he is overfed, he will become too sluggish to properly arouse himself to meet the demands made upon him. Exercise for him is essential, and the cock that is a good breeder should always be active, scratching for the hens, stirring around and crowing vigorously. There should be no forcing for egg production in the breeding-pen, and all condiments and egg-producers should be, nay must be, eliminated. With these conditions we are almost certain to get fertile eggs in the earliest part of the hatching season, and that too at the time when tlie broody hen is very hard to procure. Here we find that the first great value of the incubator is that it is ready at all times, including the time when hens will not “set.” And it is the great secret of success with poultry to get the chickens out early, make them mature quickly and lay in about five months; get over their moult early and settle again to business bexore the winter sets in. They will now lav clear through the winter'if housed rightly. This can only be done by using the incubator.