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About The Coos Bay times. (Marshfield, Or.) 1906-1957 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1915)
sf: 'iswr''" HOME AND FAKM MAGAZINE SECTION z. ". ' .i Profitable Business of Poultry Raising in America The Ini'iibnlor l n nrrclly on (lie fiuniiirrclal ioiillry plnnt nml n ron cnlenre to Hie nnutfur iioullrjinan. , coml miuhlnr, proprrlr oprnitril, Mill hillill chichi f MitUfrtclory qnnllty nl nny rnwn of tlio jciir. Tlio morr Important ilctullt of In riilmtor inunngriiirnt lire oiittlnril lr rrofrator Nluneburn In Ills urrum putijlnc conlrluutlon. by i'iior. riii:Di:itic n. stonkuuiin. THE truly remarkable dovclop mcut of tho poultry industry during tho last quarter of a rentury Is duo, In no sninll measure to the Improvement made in Incu bators nml brooders. Of course, many other factors havo had great Influence, havo materially assisted In this development, but with all our up-to-dato knowiedgo of methods of breeding, housing, feeding nnd man aging our stock, few of us would caro to attempt to opcrato a goou-sizeu commercial poultry plant If wo wero compelled to depend upon hens to hatch and rear all tho clilcits. Tho great popularity and wldo uso of tho non-sitting breeds has followed tho perfection of npparatus for hatch ing and rearing tho chicks. Imagine, for a moment, how extremely diffi cult it would be for n Leghorn breed er to maintain n flock of a thousand birds without incubators and brood ers. Then consider tho vast number of ostabllshments where that or a great er number of Leghorns arc kept, and 3011 will instantly realize what a debt of gratitude the American poultry in dustry owes to tho pioneer investiga tors In tho fields of artificial incuba tion nnd tho men who have followed In their steps and brought tho indis pensable hatching machine to their present stato of por'ection. Incubator?) PoM'ss Advantages. It can scarcely be claimed that tho best incubators aro superior to good Hitting hens in tho matter of tho qual ity of tho chicks produced. It is difficult to improve upon Nature. But It is truo that tho machines huvo ninny advantages over tho hens from tho standpoint of tho poultry man in that they will do their work at any season of tho year, and when many chicks nro hatched It Is easier to enro for machines of given capac ity than for tho number of hens re quired to cover tho same number of eggs. In tho comparatively recent past thero existed n general prejudice against Incubators. Tho common be lief was that tho machines wero un reliable, needed almost constant wntchlng nnd produced chicks which wiro weak and of llttlo value. Today tho pendulum hns swung to tho other extreme, and a very largo number of peoplo seem to think that tho incubators really run themselves, producing a strong chick from vir tually every fortllo egg, no matter how llttlo attention is paid to the work by tho operator. Probably this change Is duo to tho great improve ment mndo In dovlccs for regulating tempcrnturo and ventilation, and to various automatic contrivances do slKiiod to relievo the attendant of much detail work. It Is unfortunnto that such an Im pression is so widely entertained, be iwiso many who hold it will bo dis appointed when they attempt to op erate their machines. Tho writer has had exporlenco with n great number of Incubators of many types nnd liiakos, hns seldom, If ever, been ablo to hatch every fortllo egg, and has always found that best resultu nro M'oured only when nil details of man agement havo been carefully attended to during the ontlro period of Incubn. tlon. Neglect of any of theso may bring disaster. Thero are many different makes of incubators, tanging In size from tho tiny ninehlnoa holding but two or throe dozens of eggs to the grcnt mammoth lmtchers with a capacity of thousands of eggs. Tho manufactur er of each usually stntos that his par ticular model U superior to ull others of slmtlnr type, nnd points to certain details of construction or operation which theoretically nro Improvements over anything offered by other manu facturers. In all this clamor the amateur Is at 11 loss to know which particular machine ho should secure. No one wishes to make a mistake In this ninttop, since nil unsatisfactory Incu bator may bo tho cause of heavy loss. Choosing an luc.ihalor. Possibly tho best advice one can o In this connection is about as follows: Visit n nemlior nf inrMic. fill poultry plants iu your own neigh borhood nnd nsccrtnln what particu lar Incubator has given tho greatest degrco of satisfaction. Then sccuro a machine of thut make, becauso it has shown that It will hatch well un der tho conditions existing In your locality nnd you will bo nblo to ob tain help from experienced operators It nnything goes wrong. Having purchased tho incubator, plan tp give it a fair chanco to do its best work. If It reaches you In a crnte, unpack It with caro and set It up In exact accordance with tho ac companying sheet of Instructions. Study this carefully. Do not attempt to asscmblo tho various parts without knowing exactly whero each goes and what It is for. Tho manufacturer probably knows best, so follow his di rections and conduct experiments at a later date. I'laco tho machlno in a toom whoro thero is frco ventilation, a fairly oven tomporaturo and considerable mois ture. Sluggish ventilation, oxccsslvo fluctuation of room tcmperniuro una bone-dry nlr will adversely affect ro 8Ults. Tho machlno should not bo plnccd in a direct draught, slnco tho lamp will givo troublo under such conditions. Set tho machlno lovol to insure oven temperaturo in all parts of tho egg chamber. Then run it for a fow days before putting tho eggs In, bo that the proper caro of tno lamp anu mo na Justment of tho regulating dovrco may bo learned. After theso points havo been worked out, and only then, tho eggs may bo put in. Selected Eggs Hatch Best. Now, a word about eggs of proper quality. Big hatches of sturdy chicks aro to bo secured only through tho uso of selected eggs. Better to opcr ato tho machlno two-thirds full of really good eggs than to fill up tho remaining spaco with thoso of doubt ful quality. Tho egg cost per chick will bo less In tho former case, and thero will bo a smaller proportion of weaklings, which aro of llttlo or no valuo anywny. Hatching eggs should bo secured from well-mntured, healthy, vigorous brooding birds, which insures strength in tho chicks. They should bo of good size, not abnormally large, slnco tho chicks will bo larger and heavier when hatched and will usually retain this ndvantago over thoso from small eggs until mnturity Is reached. They should bo of good Bhapo nnd frco from serious Imper fections In shell, as such appear to hatch better than thoso which aro very round, oxtrcmoly pointed, or hnvo ridged or mottled shells. They should bo fresh, as bntchabll Ity decreases steadily with ogo. Thoy Bhould bo collected frequently during cold weather to prevent possible chill ing, which is always Injurious. F(nnl ly, tho eggs In each machlno Bhould bo from fowls of tho samo gonoral typo, as mixed lots from Leghorns up XtiwKxi ol XtTlZL U 0. "" oss. limners located in 11 .. -n.,ti,. PMMluclnir nbltlty. Today tho ritVode Islam lie 1 ,,, ..i'"' W',n,f.ropmar baue or thv to ta beauty and It busing. iuniml2 "."M,"!01 ' its., ,0," "'"'? tho mo.t po ronulnr weiehta nr n. fii.. ".T. .,,-"- r""' .'" "; 'imsny red, with a small and Brahmas, for instance, do not hatch ovcnly. Virtually nil modern Incitbntors nro sclf-rcgulatlng, so far as temperaturo Is concerned, and when onco adjust ed will mnlntnln tho proper degree of heat, unless tho tomporaturo of tho room fluctuates violently. Tho proper Incubating temperature, as Indicated by tho thermometer, varies according to tho location of tho lat ter. When the bulb Is suspended nt tho lovol of tho top of tho eggs, tho tompernturo should nverago 103 de grees for tho entire three weeks, run ning slightly higher at hatching time. Sorao operators prefer to keep tho temperature at this point continuous ly. Tho writer has had best results from holding tho tempcrnturo nt 102 & degrees during tho first week, 103 degrees tho second week, 103 degrees tho third week nnd 101 to 105 degrees when tho chicks aro hatching. Tho nmchino should bo running ovenly at tho required heat boforo tho eggs nro put in. When rendy, placo tho trays of eggs In position in tho morning. They will heat up dur ing tho day nnd give npportunlty to mnko any regulator adjustments bo foro bedtime nrrlves. When tho eggs aro placed In tho machlno at night, thero Is more chnnco of things going wrong becnuse of tho absenco of tho attendant. Tho eggs should be turned onco every 12 hours, beginning 3C to 48 hours after they are placed In tho ma chlno, Tho exact method of, turning them is of llttlo moment, so long ns their relative position Is changed and they aro partially rotated. It is not necessary to turn each egg squarely over. Turn Kggs Itcgiiluiiy. More frequent turning, say thrcn to four times dally, often increases the number of chicks hatched, but tho in crcaso Is bo snfiill that few Incubator oporntors consider It worth tho trou blo to turn ottener than twica dally. By tho evening of tho ISth or 19th day, sonio eggs will bo pipped, and after that, turning should bo dis continued. At tho end of the first week tho oggs should bo tested, and thoso which nro infertllo or contain dead germs should bo thrown out. Tho testing may bo repeated on tho 14th or lGth day so nono but eggs con taining llvo embryos will bo left on tho tray. Somo poultrymcn mnko a practico of leaving tho eggs out of tho ma chlno for a tlmo when turning them in order to "cool" them, claiming that tho sitting hen cools her eggs whon off tho nest securing her food. Per sonally, I do not think that "cooling" Is necessary, unless through nccldent tho eggs hnvo becomo overheated. In tho caso of machines which hnvo llt tlo or no ventilation, nnd In hot weather when tho movement of tho air through all machines Is very ... Vi 7 . . """ ia iiicbo SINGLE-COMB K1IODI2 ISLAND KEDS. - .&&u .. ....,. WUv. , puuwis; nen, c'3 pounds; cockerel, 74 pounds; pullet, 5 pomms. 1 sluggish, It Is advisable to removo tho trnys nnd nlr tho eggs onco or twice per day; otherwise tho accumulation of carbon dioxide In tho egg chamber mny hnvo n bad effect upon the de veloping chicks. It is a slmplo tnnttcr to caro for tho incubator Inmp, but there Is both n right nnd a wrong way to do it. Cure of tlio Lump. Tho oil used should bo of the best quality. Poor oil throws off fumes causes 11 heavy crust to form on tho lamp wick and may fill tho heater with soot. Tho wick should also bo of good quality and n now ono put In ut tho beginning of each hatch. Otherwiso it may get short and tho lamp go out during tho night, thus lowering tho temperaturo nnd Injur ing or spoiling tho hatch. I prefer to fill tho lamp In tho lato afternoon., This insures n. freshly trimmed wick nnd an ample Bupply of oil for tho night. If tho lamp goes out during tho night, it may not bo noticed for sovcral hours, but if this nccldent occurs during tho day It is very like ly to bo noticed boforo serious harm has been dono. At hatching tlmo, leavo tho ma chine closed. If for any reason It be comes nccossnry to open the door, closo it ugnlii as quickly as possible. Chilling tho chicks Is disastrous Just nt this critical tlmo. Also, keep tho Interior of the egg chamber darlc when tho chicks are coming out. Light nttrncts anil dis turbs them. Wlint they need most Is wnrmth and rest, and thoy will bo tho bettor for It If kept comfortnble and quiet. (Copyright, 191H, by Matoa-Mon Adv. Company, Inc.) Chicken Chattel'. Tho secret In feeding laying hens is not to get them too fnt. Fresh meat nnd bones cut with a bono cutter will mnko hens lay when other feeds fall. When you see poultry scratching In tho scratching pen It Is a sign of thrift. If proporly managed, an Incubator may bo mndo to pay for Itself In tho first' hatch. It depends on tho opera tor, howovcr, as much us tho Incu bator. To renew tho vitality of tho flock get male birds of tho Bamo strain but of another family. Don't rnlso mon grols. Drafts nro bnd for poultry. Your troublo will bo found In keeping cold out rather than lotting It In. Provldo plenty of grit. -Tho want of grit in tho crop nnd gizzard Is to a fowl what tho lack of teeth Is to tlio human. Iicokon enrthen ware, sand, grnvel, etc., should bo 011 hand nt all tlmos nnd easy of access. Good grit Is usually on snlo In overy town. Drafty nnd damp quarters mean colds; colds mean roup; roup causes troublo. Stop tho troublo by pre venting tho cntisc. XDUIN MECARCI a'-" roup of poultrym.;. took uirua imu neon i-uiiiuiuiu w.v- . tr hardiness nnd rce nular breeds, due botn amount 01 imv pullet, 5 pounds. i-J vr,,l miMMI, , ... 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