v1 a. ¥ tA ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION INCUBATORS. A TREATISE ON : RAISING POULTRY N ARTIFICIAL MEANS e WITH DESCRIPTIONS AND ‘ILLUSTRATIONS OF _pvERY INCUBATOR OR HATCHING APPARATUS : WORTHY OF NOTICE, IN ANCIENT OR MODERN TIMES. By A. M. “HALSTED, RYE, N. Y. ‘SECOND RDITION. : REVISED AND ENLARGED. : NEW YORK. : ALBERT ae & Co., Printers, 60 John Street. (1883. “ A le = i Ui faa’ ge, wl eee ae ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION AND INCUBATORS. ILLUSTRATED. A. ae ew ee SE CT: RAISING POULTRY BY ARTIFICIAL MEANS. WITH DESCRIPTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF EVERY INCUBATOR OR HATCHING APPARATUS WORTHY OF NOTICE, IN ANCIENT OR MODERN TIMES. Zeer Mi LNRES | an 25 1$83 ; Nouha ed. 2O SECOND EDITI 5m RHVISEHED AND HNLAR 1883. oT re Dedicated to that most genial and whole-souled body of men— The Poultry Fraternity. ; ; By THE AUTHOR Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1883, by A. M. Haste, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. CONTE NES, PAgE FREBODUCTION. 220505510203. - Ge eavddsecesuedudvedeocducceasaciss ds 3 CHapTerR I. General Remarks Seat alcs ald ia) Siete a APR RAP RSEP BSE Se Pie 5 ne ot Artificial Incubation. 55a sci Wade des aes oirgcteeeleste d 8 “II. Management of Incubator..... false halcaisie dain) Hos ataeies c's 14 eee Ne i te Me. 2c... asia Ce OSE A ae 19 te Vt Care: of the 1) ee wig ae elind reelatarausrgd Ve earesas 28 oa er eemrerotrthe Chicks $60) erg AY AU, Mohatae “Vil. Rearing Chickens to Adult Age......... alaane Says ons ae 44 “ VIII. Estimates of Costs and Profits... ........ccc0ccceeceee 47 “IX. Egg Testers and Brooders and their MSGAd ovccte's sates te 51 pee tee Eenbatord 21... .......< asad teeter eee aioe ates a et 60 i.) AE Houses, Varde, Location, ete: «< mer brooder. Such a one'as > - is illustrated. and described . : at Fig. 32 will be found well Fig. 31. _ suited for the purpose; or the brooder previously mentioned may be used with- © out the heating arrangement. Cleanliness is imperative; the brooders must be cleaned often, and the bottoms covered with dry earth or sand. Dampness must. not be tolerated in the quarters assigned to the young broods; it. will be fatal to success. Feed cups and water vessels must be kept clean and sweet. Regularity in feeding must be observed; a glut one day and a famine the next will soon bring disease. Never over-feed; give what will be eaten up clean and no more. Have regular hours for feeding, and feed at such times. Vary the food to suit the weather; in cold, damp weather give more animal food than in warm, dry days; itismorenourishing. Do not allow any portion of the work to be slighted. Remember, the better you at- tend to them the better they will pay you. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well; and, finally, always keep in mind these three requisites to success: Warmth, Cleanliness, and Regularity in Feeding. isan unusually season, the be transferred old to a sum- CHAPTER VII. REARING CHICKENS To ADULT AGE. Thus far we have treated of the chickens as being raised to the age of broilers—six weeks to two months old. When carried beyond that age, either with a view for future market or breeding stock, they should be given more liberty, more range of run. No matter how rough the land, provided it is not infested with minks, weasels, rats, and other poultry ene- mies: a newly cleared piece of woodland makes an excellentrun. For summer accommodations I would advise the erection of low sheds. These may be cheaply built, as follows: Set six posts into the ground, making a parallelogram six to eight feet wide and twelve long; on the top of these posts, six feet from the ground, spike a plate piece of 3x5 inch timber, all around. Three feet be- iow this, halve in another piece for the floor; roof it over with either tongued-and-grooved boards, or with rough pine boards laid like clapboards; let the peak of the roof be three feet above the plate; floor it with common pine or spruce boards; the sides and ends may be of lath, placed one inch apart, or of wire cloth, two- inch mesh. A door should be placed in either one or both ends, with an inclined ladder from the ground for the birds to get up. The roosts, or perches, should be on a level, two feet above the floor. Whitewash the entire building inside and out. At night the doors should be closed, and the ladders raised, and the chicks FOOD AND WATER, 45 are then safe from all four-footed enemies. They may be left to roost in such a snelter until the frosty nights of early November in this latitude, and will be all the better for it. To have them grow and thrive they must be continually em- ployed. A handful of wheat or oats in a sheaf of straw scattered over the ground will do them as much good as two feeds of the best ground corn when thrown down on a hard and bare run. Chickens must never be allowed to mope or be idle; they should be kept continually exercised. Better let them be a little scantily fed so that they will search for their food than to stuff them into laziness. When nearly time to market them fattening foods and methods may be used with good effect. You have thena frame to build upon, and the food produces the wished for results . in the shortest possible time. Tincture of iron may now be given in the drinking water, or else use iron kettles for the drinking vessels; it helps the growth of bone and feathers. In feeding, pursue about the same system as recommended in the preceding chapter, giving more whole grain though as the birds get older. The menu cannot be too much changed. Boiled vegetables with the meal mixed up dryly makes excellent feeding stuff; bread crusts and broken biscuits soaked in skim milk make chickens grow - wonderfully fast. Green food is more important than most breeders acknowledge. Unless they have unlimited supplies of grass or vegetable food I should feed it to them often. Lettuce leaves and lawn mowings, finely minced up and mixed with some soft food, with a sprinkling of some tonic food, will often induce chickens to eat when nothing else seems to tempt them. Spiced foods and aromatic compounds I do not at all ad- vise for young stock. I think they do moré harm than good, however useful they may be for stimulating in adult birds. Chick- ens so fed seldom make fine specimens, but become matured when they ought to be growing, and develop combs when the birds ought to be making flesh and bone. Water, too, isa very important item to their well-being. Chick- ens must have clean water, and they must have fresh water. Ido not mean that stale water would kill a chicken, but I firmly be- lieve that water which stands from morning to morning does them harm. Rain water which is allowed tostand in the water tub does them harm. Water which can be found by the chickens in stag- nant puddles, or which drains from farmyards, does them harm, 46 FATTENING PENS. and when you give either food or drink which is hurtful they can- not thrive as they should. In fattening and preparing for market a very different treat- ment must be given. To give them delicacy of flesh make their principal food, for a week or ten days before killing, barley meal moistened a milk, occasionally alternating with Indian meal scalded with either water or milk. During this process the chicks had best be kept confined in a darkened room. If the business is conducted on a scale sufficiently large to warrant the expense, I should advise the use of a fattening house, with apparatus for ‘‘cramming”. This process is better adapted to stock say six to eight months old, but may be used with\profit on broilers from the sixth to the eighth week. I have in use a stack of fattening pens which, built on a larger scale, will be found very convenient. They are constructed under a shed, against the back side, are in three tiers, ten in each tier; the apartments are each six inches wide, thirteen high and fourteen deep. The floor of each projects four inches in front, forming a shelf on which to place the food and water cups. An open space, four inches wide, is left at the back, through which the droppings pass to a trough on the ground underneath, which should be sup- plied with dry earth to absorb the moisture. Under the back part of the bottom tier is placed an inclined shelf, which throws the droppings forward into the trough. The front is formed of wire rods, three to each pen, Paeeins through holes bored in top and bottom of pens. » Such pens ensure quietness, which is one of the essentials to quick fattening. The pens are large enough for a fowl to stand up or sit down, but not roomy enough for them to turn aroung or ex- ercise. There is no fighting or restless exercise, and the fowls gain more in one week in such quarters than in two as ordinarily penned for fattening. CHAPTER VIII. ESTIMATES OF COSTS AND PROFITS. In considering this occupation as a business, it will be necessary to vary somewhat from our text, and introduce matters which, at first sight, may seem foreign to our subject; but without these means of comparison we could not so plainly illustrate the benefit and profits of the artificial method. The only practical illustration of Artificial Incubation as a busi- ness venture, which we have in this country, is that of Mr. Baker, of New Jersey. His establishment is without doubt the largest in the world. It was fitted up and completed more like the hobby of arich merchant than the ideas of a practical business man. Everything was built and finished expensively ; woodwork all planed; galvanized wire netting dividing the runs; houses and runs fitted up like a gen- tleman’s poultry yard for breeding exhibition fowls, and for show- ing to his wealthy visitors. The hatching house was most com- pletely equipped with every convenience—heated by steam or hot water, electrical communication with all the egg drawers and the hatching room; and all seemingly regardless of economy in con- struction. The entire place, consisting of hatching house, twenty- . five by fifty feet long, two stories and basement; nursery—a dou- ble-pitch glass house, one hundred and fifty feet long, and thirty feet wide, fitted with stationary brooders and runs, each six by twelve feet; the second house for more advanced chickens, four hundred and fifty feet long and twenty-four wide, with wire en- closed and covered runs outside; fattening and cramming house, fitted with revolving fattening pens, holding about two thousand fowls; slaughtering house; packing house; ice house, and roosting sheds, all said to cost in the neighborhood of eighty thousand dollars. When I visited the place, the capacity of the Incubators was fifty-six hundred eggs. Allowing a result of four thousand chicks from each hatching, and twelve and a half per cent. loss in rear- 48 MR. BAKER’S ESTABLISHMENT. ing, it gives a total of thirty-five hundred chicks every three weeks, or fifty-nine thousand five hundred per year; these at an estimated average price of forty cents each will give a gross return of twenty-three thousand, eight hundred dollars. Against this, we have interest on investment, at six per cent. forty-eight hundred dollars; taxes and repairs, two percent. more, sixteen hundred dollars; wages, six men, at five hundred dollars each per year, three thousand dollars; feed, five thousand dollars; coal, ice, etc., six hundred dollars, making a total of fifteen thousand dollars, and leaving a profit of eight thousand, eight hundred dollars for the year’s operations. I believe that the building and fixtures necessary to raise and market that number of chickens may be constructed and fitted up at less than - one-fourth, and probably one-fifth, the amount said to have been ex- pended above. Some of the conveniences | and labor-sav- ing arrange- Al ments might have to be dis- pensed with, as the extra >, labor involved would not ) probably equal the interest of investment. I give the above as illus- trating what may be done, even with the a 1G disadvantage of carrying = dN such a heavy load of inter- | SELF-ACTING FEEDING HOPPER. est. With a more moderate outlay, the profits would be proportionately larger. The average cost of hatching and raising a chicken by artificial means to eight weeks old, is not over fifteen cents. At this age it should weigh Gf forced) from one and one-half to two pounds. The cost of the next two months will be fully fifteen cents more, while the weight will not gain over one pound. It follows, there- fore, that the most of the profit comes from the first two months’ care and feeding. Broilers at that age, in New York, Philadelphia, or Boston, will sell during April, May, and June, at from seventy- five cents to one dollar per pair, and sometimes as high as one dollar and fifty cents per pair early in the spring. At this rate there is a large profit on the early-hatched broods; and prices for good broilers (plump chickens under two pounds each) will usually hold up to fifty and sixty cents per pair until October. INCUBATORS VS. HENS. 49 During the late fall and winter months, an Eastern breeder cannot hope to compete with the Western producer. Adult fowls can be raised there and marketed here (during cold weather) at much less figures than we at the East can doit. Itis only by improving the quality of the birds marketed, and getting them into market at an early age, that we can make a paying busi- ness of it. Bear in mind always that the profit on chickens is made by get- ting them fit for market at the earliest possible age. To do this, the breeder must avail himself of artificial means. Itisan absolute necessity to success that he employ Incubators and brooders in connection with the natural method. I say ‘“‘in connection with,” for I do not advise the nse of artificial means to the entire exclusion of the natural. .Taking, for instance, a busi- ness in which it is proposed to keep five hundred hens. These, at an average of one hundred and fifty eggs each, will give seventy- five thousand per year. Now, allowa hen to sit twice, thirteen eggs being her nest. We have then used thirteen thousand eggs, and have sixty-two thousand which we are obliged to other- wise dispose of. Withsix Incubators, of two hundred eggs capacity each, we could use all of this surplus and produce a total of fifty-three == thousand, five hun- dred and fifty chick- = ens. Allowing each hen to hatch ten Z= chicks per sitting— twenty chicks in all ‘uct —we have ten thous- and, making a total 7 Ra ad ea of sixty-three thous_ and, five hundred and fifty. Now, the care of the six Incubators need not take over two hours per day, while the proper care of the hens, the necessary watching to see that they do not get off their nests, feeding, watering, cleaning the apartments and nests, etc., would take fully as much time, and, if only one hundred hens were sitting at once, the time would extend through seven months, with a return of less than one-fifth that of the Incubators. In this we have given the hens credit for about seventy-seven per cent., while the average hatch with the hens where large num- bers are kept and set is not over sixty per cent. Figuring at this latter percentage, we should get only seven thousand, eight hun- dred chickens, against thirty-one thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven which would be the équivalent for the Incubators for the same length of time. The Incubator we have credited with a_ 50 BROODERS VS. NATURAL MOTHERS. hatch of eighty-seven and one-half per cent., while ninety and ninety-five per cent. are now frequent averages with the Incuba- tor that the writer is using. Returning to the natural method, we have five hundred hens, each of which is expected to hatch two broods of chickens, one hundred of which are supposed to sit and hatch every three weeks. Allow each hen to cover twenty chicks, we have fifty coops to pro- vide every three weeks. Each hen will run with her brood four weeks, and early in the spring the chicks must stay in the coop until six weeks old. For winter raising, which must be done, a house will have to be prepared, and the hens and coops Kept in it. This will necessitate the use of one hundred and fifty coops, which at two dollars each will cost three hundred dollars. To this may also be added the cost of the house. If portable brooders were used, and the chicks taken from the hens as soon as hatched, and put into them, it would require twenty-five (25) brooders, which would cost three hundred and seventy-five dollars. These can be be used in an open shed. The cost would be about equal in both _ cases, while the labor in caring for them would be largely in favor of the brooders, in that with the coops there would be one hun- dred to be fed and shut up every night, against twenty-five of the brooders. Then again, with every coop and old hen, there is as much dirt and filth to be cleaned out every few days as there will be in a brooder for a month; the hen fouling the coop more in one day than a brood of fifty chicks would ina week. In addition to this gain, is that of the use of the hen for five or six weeks, during which she may be made to produce twenty or twenty-five eggs. But discarding the portable brooder, and using a house as sug- gested above, the entire expense for the accommodation of the chicks hatched by that number of hens need not exceed five hun- dred dollars. The saving in labor alone, over the hen and coop system, would pay a large interest on the investment. To go into it as extensively as the above-mentioned estimates would necessitate, would preclude the use of hens and coops in rearing , and the artificial method would have to be adopted; and while the first expense would have to be comparatively large, it would require a very small annual outlay to keep everything in working order. The saving of chicks from casualties, from ne- glect, by the hens pecking and tramping, has been found to more than repay the outlay, even in small poultry establishments. In large enterprises, the percentage of loss is always more, and this saving would consequently be greater. CHAPTER IX. HGG-TRSTERS AND BROODERS, AND THEIR USE. An egg-tester is almost indispensable to the breeder who hatches by artificial means. It may be the simplest construction imagina- ble, or an expensive and complete apparatus. Of the first, perhaps that described in Wright’s Illustrated Book of Poultry is the most simple: ‘A plate of tin or zinc to shade the light from the eyes, with an‘aperture cut in it the shape of the egg. The egg is held to the aperture, with the light brought closely to the other side”. Fig. 33. Next, perhaps, in simplicity is that shown by Fig. 33, which was devised by the writer about four years ago. It is made of a stiff piece of paper (dark color preferred), five inches long, six inches wide at one end and four and one-quarter at the other. This is rolled and joined together with a lap of half an inch, by either paste or a needle and thread, as shown in the cut. With this simple instrument the eggs can be examined at any time of day, and under any ordinary light. Its use is like a telescope— apply the smaller end to the eye, and hold the egg at or in the larger. ! : An improvement on this has lately appeared, It consists of put- ting a piece on the small end like the mouthpiece of a fireman’s trumpet, and fastening a piece of some flexible material over the large end, with an egg-shaped hole in the middle. Instead of paper, the tube is made of tin. 52 EGG—TESTERS. Fig. 34 illustrates a simple arrangement which may be made out of a small cigar box or a stiff paper box of similar size. On the bottom of the box place a piece of looking-glass of nearly or quite that size; remove a strip from one end of the top, about an inch wide, and replace it at an angle of forty-five degrees, as shown in the engraving. Then cut one or more holes in the remaining por- tion of the top, about one and a half inches in diameter. The en- ‘tire top (or else one end) should be loose, so as to get-at the glass when it becomes soiled or dusty. To use it, put the eggs over the holes, and with the top of the box under a strong light, look into the opening, shielding the eyes by the strip set at right angles. The eggs will be reflected in the glass, and will appear clear or clouded, as the case may be. This last article is more particularly adapted to household pur- poses for testing eggs for \ , culinary use. Bad eggs may be imme- diately de- tected by its use, and re- , jected. For test- PRL ing eggs under in- AAA NAAN cubation, however, it is prac- tica Mia valueless, as barren === eges only can be ositivel told by its ia ae - A more elaborate article is represented in ‘‘ The Centennial Egg- Tester’”—Fig. 35. This is a tin or metal case, nine inches high and six square, with a kerosene lamp inside, backed’ by a reflector; a tube of four or five inches long is opposite the reflector, on the end of which isa flexible covering with an egg-shaped hole, against which the egg isheld. Inadarkened room the interior of the egg is very distinctly shown, and the life of the embryo may be traced. until the egg becomes quite opaque. The “Utility Egg-Tester”, Fig. 36, is another desirable style. An ordinary policeman’s or bull’s-eye lantern is the formation of the apparatus. A tube of several inches long is placed over the lens, and another is telescoped over that, the latter having the usual flexible cover and opening. By moving the outer tube in or out the light may be focussed on the egg, and its interior made very plain. The outer slide being detachable, leaves the lantern free for use about the house or place. I : BROODERS OR ARTIFICIAL MOTHERS. 53 Every fancier who has given it a thorough trial has arrived at the same conclusion as ourself, that there is no way of raising chickens so healthful and economically as by means of the Arti- ficial Mother or Brooder.* This will, before many years, be regarded as an indispensable ‘attachment to every poultry yard. With the fancier in a small way, who can keep only a few hens, it will be popular, because he can take the chicks from the nest and place them in the mother, and either re-set the hen, or turn her out, and in a week or so have her laying again. Another advantage is in the saving of coops. The young chicks may be put into the mother as they are hatched, not necessarily together, but at different times and of different ages—one, two or three weeks apart. The large breed- an advantage in and an additional feed. Young do better on a the fowls. It may feed hard boiled er also will find this last respect, one in the item of chicks need, and finer feed than be desirable to eggs for the first: a ci day or two, or » some other equal- ly expensive food. Where the hen is withthe chickens = she usually eats fully one-half of — this specially pre- breeder of Games greatest possible pared food. The will find it of the “use ; In one season he would gain the value of several ‘‘ mothers” in the saving of many of his young chicks from being picked to death by savage hens with broods of their own. How often many of us have felt like wringing the neck of some cross biddy upon finding her savagely picking (perhaps for the tenth time or more) the head off of some unfortunate chick, belonging to another brood, which had strayed into her coop! Cleanliness is another very important consideration. One hen will soil the coop more in one day than fifty chicks in a week, and _ the droppings of the former always carries with it more or less waste of food. ; Quick growth is desirable in all breeds, and nothing promotes it so much as warmth and freedom from vermin. The absence of the hen secures the freedom from lice, if the chicks are greased when taken from the nest, and if a warming attachment is used the chicks. will huddle under the fleece during cool weather, re- Inaining out only long enough to eat and drink. 54 BROODERS OR ARTIFICIAL MOTHERS. We often see a hen with her brood of chicks standing around the coop, all drawn up with the cold, peeping and crying to be brooded, while the old biddy is intent only on filling her crop, or fretting at her confinement; and when allowed to range, many is the brood of chicks entirely lost by being dragged through the wet grass in the early morn, until one after another drops off, wetand chilled through. Brooders, or Artificial Mothers, are not a recent invention. Reaumur, in 1777, used an “‘ Artificial Hen” made of a box, one end of which was provided with a sheepskin fastened on an in- cline; the box was covered with horse manure, leaving only one end open for the entrance of the chickens; a small portion of the top next the open end was covered with glass, so as to give light and air to the chickens. About the commencement of the present century M. Bonnemain, another Frenchman, devised an Artificial Mother, in which hot water was used as the heating medium; this was conveyed through the ‘‘ Mother” in avery little the floor. Flan- _ed to them, so a soft body for the backs against. A bonnier devised which Figs. 37 trations. Refer- is a zinc tank or four pipes, placed above the level of nels were attach- fixed as to furnish chicks to get their little later M. Car- an aparatus, of and 38 are illus- ring to the cut, A case for warm tube for filling water; B, the the tank, and Fie. 36. C, the flannel nel (in this case a piece of sheepskin) under which the chickens hover. The top of the case or box, in which the tank is placed, is of glass, arranged to slide, so as to open at pleasure. Three holes are provided on each side for ventilation, and a door at the end to keep them in when desired. This was the pioneer of the ‘* Hydro Mothers”. The trouble of refilling the tank several times daily with hot water was the principal objection to its use. - The Centennial Brooder, shown on page 37, Fig. 20, was invented by the writer about twelve years ago, but was not made in its present shape until a few years since. It consists of a tank and boiler, the connecting pipes so arranged that the water is kept in constant circulation. A small kerosene lamp heats the water in the boiler. The tank is placed in an inclined position, with a flan- nel cloth below it for the chicks to nestle under. The whole is en- closed in a wooden box, with a glass cover over the front, and a THE CENTENNIAL BROODER. 55 metal one over the tank and lamp. Ventilation is provided onall sides. The cost of using a Brooder of this style, accommodating. one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five chickens, is about one-half cent per day for oil. It can be used in the open air, as the chicks are perfectly protected by the glass and metal covering, and the lamp so placed that the wind does not extinguish it. The tank does not need to be refilled more than once or twice during the season. It is manufactured by the writer at Rye, N. Y. A somewhat similar affair is shown at Fig. 39—the Graves Arti- fiicial Mother. This was provided with a so-called self-regulating attachment, intended to prevent the heat rising too high. For a . while this apparatus was fairly | <== ail successful, but the reg- | | iv | = ulator get- ‘ting quick- | [J | i : chine ly out of or- der, it was | | i | = a | soon laid aside. The =a | [| ci | “Perfect pea an i tl i another late invention, ll | i| (hi for which the invent- Di ee On, Claims the only Fie. 37. perfect imi- tation of the hen nestling her brood. It isalong, low box, with glass doors on top—a miniature hot-bed frame, in fact. Running lengthways, inside the box, are several iron pipes, through which a circulation of warm water is kept up by means of a small boil- er at one | end, heated by a kero- Ce sene lamp. Under the pipe is the usual brood- 1) ing cloth. This appar- es ) atus is seem- ingly an 3 . i adaptation Gihoune me int Arti. ficial Moth- ed er. The Eclipse Artificial Mother, manufactured at Waltham, Mass., is another invention for the same purpose, and is shown at Fig. 40. The manufacturer says of it: ‘‘ A full description of our Arti- ficial Mother is unnecessary, as the cut above shows exactly what itis. They are even of more importance to a large breeder than an Incubator, for by using them a much larger per cent. of chicks can be raised. ‘“The essentials in an artificial mother or brooder are: First, a provision for furnishing the proper heat above the chickens; sec- ond, a good method of ventilation; third, a perfect freedom from 56 THE ECLIPSE ARTIFICIAL MOTHER. harboring-places for vermin, and a simple arrangement of attach- ment by which the fleece or woolen lining may be removed and cleansed readily at any time. ‘‘The Kclipse Artificial Mother meets all these requirements; and it is the simplest, most portable, easiest managed machine of any, for this use, that we have seen.. The heat may be supplied or withdrawn at any time, and its form is such that chickens brood in it with perfect immunity from the stifling and crowding which is the bane of many artificial mothers ”’. Among for- iii ; ions in this i 1g) eign invent- line we have hotair brood- tus, illustrat- This consists stove, heated spirit lamp, es Reaumur’s il ing appara- ed by Fig. 41. ofa small by an oil or the heat being caused to radiate under a sheepskin before escap- ing; a circular rim covered with glass surrounded the heating at- tachment, and outside of this were placed long, movable boxes, which could be covered with wire or left open on top. It answered a very good purpose, but was too expensive for general use. Mrs. Frank Cheshire’s Artificial Mother is shown by Figs. 42, _ 43 and 44, the first being a front view, showing the curtain, which is made of narrow pieces of woolen or flannel. §, Fig. 43, is the lamp which burns naptha through a long tube inserted into an arched chamber of the tank, the flame of which is shown at E, Fig. 44. A B, Fig. 44, is the tank, filied with water, over which is a cover- ing of wood, felt, or other substance. KK shows side views of the brooding cloth, hanging in strips like the curtain in Fig. 42. This brooder is very highly commended by English fanciers. CHRISTY’S IYYDRO MOTHER. 57 Christy’s Hydro Rearing Mother, illustrated by Fig. 45, is the latest English invention in this line. In principle it is similar to the invention of M. Carbonnier, the heating part being a large metal tank, which is to be filled twice daily, or as often as neces- sary, with hot water. Under the tank the chickens nestle, pro- tected on the outside by curtains of flannel cloth. An enclosed run surrounds the ‘‘mother ” proper, of sufficient height to keep UMM HTM | HS the chicks within bounds. This is provided with sliding doors, to allow them exit. The tank is filled through the pipe C, and the cold water drawn off through the faucet at B. _These comprise about all the brooders worthy of special men- Fig. 42. tion. There are a few other kinds, but so little different from those already described that they need not be illustrated. The value and benefit of the Brooder to the fancier and breeder is aptly described by Mr. L. Wright, in these-words: ‘‘ First, great economy of hens, as immediately after hatching they may have a second lot of eggs given to them, or be at once returned to the breeding house; in which case the first eggs laid 58 ADVANTAGES IN USE OF BROODERS. wlll be fertile, while, if a hen brings up her chicks, she passes three weeks at least with them before laying, and her eggs are valueless for hatching until four or five days after her return to the breed- ing pen. Second, economy of food, as all eggs, grits, and other dainty food P goes to the chicks. Special dainties for very young 4 |) ones are easily given in a feeding coop, through which se the larger ones cannot pass. Hens, besides consuming much and destroy- ing more, often prevent their broods from taking that which is thought most desirable for them. Third, economy of labor in feeding and cleaning, while there is always Mi) i capital dry ac- commodation Fitrm ho PM) cece days. Fourth, | ii ! | Tia | saving of appli- ances, since "| A HANG ANAT ll coops, with their train of hi | | iW drinking fount- ain and feed-~ ing dishes, are dispensed Fi. 44. with. Fifth, the extreme tameness of chicks. A hen often prevents her brood feeding till the attendant has gone; but, under this system, little chirpers of three or four days old will run ane flutter up to who- ’ 6 “ Nin, SS Sf { | ity ett Nr ii | ea TF i int | Fig. 45. ever has the charge of them while they never seem to quarrel or fight. Sixth, the accidents to which little nestlers are subject, from the timidity or clumsiness of the mothers, are entirely avoided. How many have to bewail chicks trampted to death; while often sickness, terminating fatally, is but the result of some INCREASED 8IZE. 59 internal injury, of which the hen has been the author. Seventh, increased size. Notes carefully taken of weights and ages during four seasons show that, during 1870 and 1871, by the natural system our chicks only attained the weight in twelve weeks which, during 1872 and 1873, under the artificial system, they reached in ten, though this partially is due, no doubt, to selection. Eighth, better feathering and stronger health, arising, probably, from nestling as often as desired. The second is proved by our loss of one chicken during 1872, and of not even one during 1873. Ninth, increased cleanliness of chicks, whose beautiful down retains its utmost purity until it is replaced by feathers. Tenth, the pos- sibility of raising broods very early in the year, since they can nestle until eight or ten weeks old, if they will”. CHAPTER XX INCUBATORS. The earliest record we have of hatching by artificial means is mentioned by Herodotus, about 450 years B. C., in his reference to the egg ovens of Egypt. They are also mentioned by subsequent historians, but it is not until A. D. 1494, nearly two thousand years after, that we find anything like an intelligent description of how they were con- structed. In that year Alphonse II., King of Naples, established an Egyptian Incubator, and during the same year the Duke of Florence imported an Egyptian who was skilled in the art, and constructed an incubator after the Egyptian pattern. Neither of them were successful, however, owing to the difference in climate between the two countries. These EGYPTIAN EGG OVENS, according to the early descriptions, were built of mud, or adobe; in later years they made them of brick, which were, in fact, sun- dried mud. Theyare described as consisting of two parallel rows of small ovens, and cells for fire, divided by a narrow, vaulted pas- sage; each oven being about nine or ten feet long, eight feet wide, and five or six feet high, and having above it a vaulted fire-cell of the same size, or rather less in height. Each oven communicates with the passage by an aperture large enough for a man to enter. Fig. 46 gives a sectional view of the passage way and the ovens on each side. These are all under ground, and connected with the outer air by a long, ceiled passage, so as to avoid cold drafts. The small circular openings seen in the cut are about three feet in diam- eter; each orifice, or mouth, leads by a short arched passage into the oven. These ovens are not quite circular, but nearly so; the roofs are domed, and contrived with a kind of chamber over them; the apertures leading to the fire-chambers are the same width as the openings to the ovens, and only high enough to admit a boy to pass through. From each fire-chamber there is likewise a com- EGG OVENS OF EGYPT. 61 munication with the oven to which it belongs. In the domed roofs of the ovens, and in the roof of the room, there are holes that can be opened or closed at pleasure; these serve the twofold purpose of letting out the smoke, and letting in air and a dim, hazy light. Fig. 47 shows the process of heating the ovens. The material employed for heating is called gelleh—dung collected and dried for the purpose, which is kept smouldering slowly in the fire-cham- ‘pers above the eggs. Water is supplied in troughs made of mud bricks, encircling the eggs. The climate of Egypt is specially suited for this method, in being almost of uniform temperature, and the men who follow the busi- ness are bred to it from childhood. This, as the Maamal of later days, demands constant attention, aa the attendant on the ovens literally livesin them during the time they are in operation. This egg-hatching is said to be carried on only during the months of April, May and June. The eggs are supplied by the peasantry, and there are two systems of purchase. Under one system, the hatcher pays down an agreed sum to the peasant for eggs; under the other, the owner of the eggs leaves them with the hatcher at his own risk, the latter agreeing to return one chicken for every two eggs. According to statistics given during the last decade, the business is still one of large national importance, the number of establish- . ments for the hatching of fowls’ eggs in Lower Egypt being given as one hundred and five, and in Upper Egypt as ninety-nine. The number of eggs hatched in Lower Egypt is 13,069,733, and the num- ber spoiled 6,255,867. In Upper Egypt the number hatched is 4,349,240, while the entire number spoiled is 2,529,660. In several works which — to this subject these ovens are called ‘‘Maamals”. 62 ARTIFICIAL HATCHING IN CHINA. This is incorrect, the latter name being correctly applied to a peculiar portable stove sometimes used for the same purpose. In China artificial hatching has been practiced for centuries, and — probably as long or longer than in Egypt. The stories told of the system of incubation there seem hardly credible, and, although probably describing what the narrators saw and heard, are defi- cient in some points that were kept from their knowledge. In ‘‘Minturn’s Travels”, he says: ‘‘On our return from the gardens we stopped at an egg-hatching establishment. This was a large wooden, barn-shaped building on theriver bank. Theeggs ~ are purchased out of the produce boats that come down the river, and are here artificially hatched. The process employed is singu- lar, as using only the natural heat of the egg, and is as follows: Large baskets, each twice the size of an ordinary barrel, and thickly lined with hay to prevent the loss of heat, are filled with the eggs, and then carefully closed with a closely-fitting cover of twisted straw. The eggs are now left for three days, after which they are removed from the basket and replaced in different order— those eggs which were before on the surface being now on the low- est tier. At the end of three days more the position of the eggs is again altered, and so on for fifteen days, after which time the eggs are taken out of the basket and placed on a shelf in another - apartment, and covered with bran. In the course of a day or two the chicken bursts its shell and makes its way out of the bran, being at once taken charge of by an attendant, who is always on the watch. The whole secret of the process is in the fact that the the animal heat of the whole mass of eggs being retained by the basket, which is formed of materials that do not conduct caloric, is sufficient to support the animal life of any one particular egg, and to foster its development”. CHINESE HATCHING BASKETS. Another traveler describes what he saw as follows: ‘‘ The hatching house was built at the end of the cottage, and was a kind of long shed, with mud walls thickly thatched with CHINESE HATCHING BASKETS. 63 straw. Along the ends and down one side of the building were a number of round straw baskets, well plastered with mud to pre- vent them from taking fire. In the bottom of each basket there was a tile placed, or rather tite tile forms the bottom of the basket. Upon this the fire acts—a small fireplace being below each basket. Upon the top of each basket there is a straw cover, which fits closely, and which is kept shut while the process is going on. In the centre of the shed are a number of large shelves placed one above another, upon which the eggs are laid at a certain stage of the process. When the eggs are brought they are put into the baskets, the fire is lighted below them, and a uniform heat kept up, ranging, as nearly as I could ascertain by some observations Fic. 48.—BONNEMAIN’S INCUBATOR. which I made with the thermometer, from ninety-five to one hun- dred and two degrees—but the Chinamen regulate the heat by their own feelings, and therefore it will, of course, vary consider- ably. 7 In four or five days after the eggs have been subject to this temperature they are taken carefully out to a door, in which.a number of holes have been bored nearly the size of the eggs; they are then held one by one against these holes, and the Chinamen look through them, and are able to tell whether they are good or not. If good, they are taken back and replaced in their former quarters; if bad, they are of course excluded. Innineor ten days after this—that is, about fourteen daysfrom the commencement— the eggs are taken from the basket and spread out on the shelves. Here no fire heat is applied, but they are covered over with cot- ton, and a kind of blanket, under which they remain about four- teen days more—when the young ducks burst their shells, and the shed teems with life”. ° 64 _ REAUMUR’S APPARATUS. There is but little doubt that part, and that perhaps the princi- pal portion, of the hatching process was kept from the sight of these narrators, for it is exceedingly improbable that any process so directly antagonistic to the natural system could be success- fully carried out. Doubtless there was some unseen means of keeping the eggs warm, as it is impossible that the egg should of itself possess sufficient heat to sustain life, much less develop it. REAUMUR’S HATCHING APPARATUS. No further record of any invention for artificial hatching comes to our notice until the year 1777, when Reaumur, the celebrated French naturalist, constructed his apparatus for hatching by means of horse manure, except a ‘‘ little portable oven” described by Oliver de Serres, a noted French agriculturist, as being heated by four lamps and the eggs covered with feathers. Of the date _of this, however, we have no knowledge. m = ANT ce ii Um HTT Hy ny ub Ai a Em _| lial = Fic. 49.—AMERICAN EGG HATCHING MACHINE. Reaumur’s apparatus was quite successful in the hands of the naturalist, but with others it did not do as well, probably owing to lack of attention and knowledge of the requisite care. His apparatus was simply wooden casks fitted with drawers or mova- ble shelves, on which the eggs were placed, the whole surrounded with fresh horse manure, which was renewed at intervals to keep up the heat. BONNEMAIN’S INCUBATOR. The next invention we find is*that of M. Bonnemain, who was. the first to use hot water to warm the eggs. Fig. 48 is a sectional view of his machine, in which a represents the boiler; 6 the box BONNEMAIN’S INCUBATOR. 65 or room in which the heating apparatus is placed; d the tubes for circulating the hot water; e the funnel end of the supply tube; and f an exhaust pipe to carry off the steam should the water get too hot: cis a box through which passes an extension of the lower coil of pipe, under the returning tube of which is fixed a piece of sheepskin for a brooder for the chicks. M. Bonnemain also used sponges saturated with water in the bottom of the egg chamber, to supply moisture to the air. He also constructed a regulating bar, formed of two different metals, (probably iron and brass), which acted upon a damper in the furnace door, thus increasing or decreasing the draft of the fire. The eggs were lain on slides as shown in the illustration. The i" i rm ni oe Hn ts taney HIG. 50. ie a oem INCUBATOR. Incubator was not a success, owing to the impossibility of keep- ing the temperature even on the different slides. THE ECCALEOBION. Next after Bonnemain’s, as near as we can tell, was an inven- tion which was shown in Denies, and called an Eccaleobion: this was heated by steam pipes, with jugs of water in the egg cham- bers to keep the air moist. In 1842, a small machine was exhibited in operation at Bristol, Eng., by a Mr. Appleyard; we have no description of it. About the same time one was exhibited by Mr. E. Bayer, in New York and Brooklyn, called the POTOLOKIAN. | And between this and 1845, a Mr. L. G. Hoffman of Albany, in- vented and had in operation, the AMERICAN EGG HATCHING MACHINE, of which Fig. 49 is an illustration. This is a box two and a half 66 HOFFMAN’S AND CANTELO’S MACHINE. feet long and two wide, enclosing a metal tank or cistern of water, R. R. R., which is connected with the boiler on the left of the tank by two tubes. The boiler bottom is a long cone reaching nearly to the top, which gives a large heating surface to the spirit lamp which supplies the heat. The egg drawers are entirely en- closed and surrounded by the hot water cistern. The tank is fill- ed through the tube F. The machine stands on a box, in which may be ncticed an inclined board, the under side of this is lined with sheepskin and serves as an artificial mother. The end of the board is held up by a weighted cord, and may be raised or lowered to suit the size of the chickens. A CANTELO’S INCUBATOR. Y Cantelo in England, show- — OKAKP URLS ES AKA RS Ke OE ae SS ed a fairly suc- Ni H cessful machine about thistime. [Sy A : SIN It was the first attempt to imi- NC yy | tate the natural process of ap- Ss fp : plying the heat fromabove. It Ae ‘Aes is described as a very simple NS ZiS) apparatus; be- NZ YS| a bottom of 43 ing atank with SS zz S india rubber; the drawers of eggs under- N\__ neath are press- ed up so that S 1 \ WMA Wh : SJ the eggs come in contact with Fic. 51.—SECTIONAL VIEW CARBON- the rubber cloth. The NIER'S INCUBATOR. water is caused to circulate by means of a stove placed at one side. Mrnasr’s INCUBATOR, contemporary with Cantelo, was a more elaborate affair. A boiler heated by a naptha or spirit lamp, all enclosed in an upright box, communicated heat to a reservoir or tank of water. The under side of this tank was corrugated, so as ‘to support by the aid of wires, a series of small narrow sand-bags, against which the eggs were pressed by springs under the drawers. This device was abandoned and aseries of tubes substituted, through which the hot water circulated. The eggs were placed on these tubes, which were close enough together to prevent the eggs from falling through. The machine was too elaborate to become popular. ADRIEN & TRIOCHE’S INCUBATOR. Similar to Minasi’s first machine, was one constructed by Adrien & Trioche, at Van Girard, France, in 1848. This also had the rub- ~ ber cloth bottom to the water tank, supported on rods of wood. A sheet iron cylinder, heated by a charcoal fire, supplied the tank ~ with hot water. The top of the tank was covered with sand, so as ADRIEN & TRIOCHE’S INCUBATOR. 67 to retain the heat. This Incubator was ten feet long by three and a half wide. The drawers were in two ranges, placed back to back; the bottoms of the drawers were of perforated tin or fine wire cloth, covered with bran to keep the eggs level. The machine ——<—=————4 LS ———— SSS SSS ss =| —_—_—_——SSSS=» —— SS Fic. 52.—VALLEER’S EGG HATCHER. ~ i! | | Hiv | held fifteen hundred eggs, from which the inventors claimed a re- sult of twelve hundred chicks. It required attention every four hours. ———SSS=a = == 8 => =| | | CARBONNIER’S INCUBATOR. which appeared about this time, was a very simple affair. Fig. 50 68 CARBONNIER’S INCUBATOR. represents the Incubator, with the drawer containing the eggs, partly drawn out. Fig. 51 shows a section of the same, in which —A, is the zinc case for water—B, Thermometer—C, Non-con- ducting filling—D, Drawer, with eggs, and Z, the Lamp. The upper part of the box contains ‘a zinc reservoir, with a space left, as shown in the draw- ing, for the introduc- tion of the lamp, and a small tube passing through the top of the box, which serves for filling it. with water, and also for holding a thermome- ter, which, plunged in- tothe water below, indi- cates the 6 tempera- ture. Ther- & mometer tubes may = be obtained and held in 5 position i : Zz : continually ™ by insert- ing through % a perfor- ated cork of the proper : a size; the z tempera- ture.of the | & water may then beseen a | at aglance. The drawer S TREES TE PENMAN’S AND THE SCOTIA INCUBATORS. 99 10 on Fig. 76), heated by the water flowing from the tank above through four pipes (7). 11. Return pipe, conveying the water from the Artificial Mother to the boiler to be re-heated. 12. Boiler, containing three flattened elbow tubes, each one placed above a lamp wick. | 13. Lamp for the burning of paraffin, petroleum, or other oils, containing three wicks, each two and three-quarter inches broad, the whole held in position by four rods fitted into corresponding tubes attached to the lamp, and retained by two sliding catches. 14, Inlet pipe, joined to the boiler by a brass coupling, convey- ing the heated water by five graduated openings or inlets to the cistern, whence it flows on both sides of the centre to the ends of the tank. 15. Heat regulator, a pill-box shaped brass vessel, having, as a lid, a flexible diaphragm, which acts by means of arod upon the slide or cover of lamp No. 16, Fig. 76. 16. Graduated slide or cover for lamp. As the heat expands the air, or any other fluid that may be used, in the long tubes within the cistern, the only non-resisting medium upon which it can act is the flexible diaphragm on No. 15, causing it to protrude in the direction of the dotted line, and thus propelling the slide or cover (No. 16) inward upon the flames, and thereby cutting off the heat. Asthe heat of the water in the cistern or tank sub- sides, the atmospheric pressure, re-acting on the diaphragm, causes the slide to be withdrawn, and thus the size of the flames, and consequently the heat, is again increased. ’ 17. Waste pipe to run off the water at the aed of the hatching season. 18. Tray, made of the same material as the tank, surrounded by a wood frame in which to place the eggs after the birds have chipped the shells, and where the chickens can remain till they are dry, when they may be removed to the Mother below. Where gas can be obtained and would be preferred, a regulator for it is made instead of the oil lamp. We have no doubt but this is the best of the English machines, yet its complication of parts and great cost will prevent its ever becoming popular with those who have the most use for an Incu- bator. THE SCOTIA INCUBATOR is of the same nationality as the last. It is described in Brown’s book on Artificial Incubation as being in appearance like a very flat box, with one drawer in front, and an arched hole at each end 100 CHRYSTY’S DYDRO—INCUBATOR. of it. It is about three feet in length, half that in width, and fifteen inches in height, the outer case being wood entirely. A tank, about one and a half inches deep, is fitted in it, extending the whole length of the machine, which is heated by lamps placed in compartments of which the arched holes are the entrance. These lamps are ordinary paraffin lamps, without chimneys. The egg drawer is placed between the two lamp compartments, and is sufficiently large to hold one hundred eggs. In the bottom of this drawer sods are placed, or earth, and kept constantly moist; above this a layer of straw is laid, on which the eggs are put. Ventilation is given over the ends and back of this drawer. 9 SHAISTY HVYDRO-INCUBATORS Sp LONDON <* S, $ *EncyuRne The great fault in this machine is its defective ventilation and lack of regulator. CHRYSTY’S HYDRO-INCUBATOR is a London, Eng., invention, of which Fig. 79 is an illustration. In describing its parts, A is the exhaust pipe used in emptying the cistern; B, a brass cock for drawing off water, previous to re- plenishing the cistern with boiling water; C, a glass gauge, with a marked scale D at the side, to give the height of water in the cistern; EH, tube through which cistern is filled; #, vent tube for escaping air; G, egg drawer; H, thermometer; J, air holes for ventilation; J, flannel on which the eggs lie; K, stand or box on which the Incubator sits; LZ, earth trays in bottom of drawer. | The mode of operating this machine is to fill the cistern with boiling water, which raises the heat to about 120° to 130°; after HOWELL’S GEM HATCHER AND VOITELLIER’s INCUBATOR. 101 allowing it to cool down to 102°, keep the heat at about that point by drawing off every twelve hours a sufficient quantity of water, and replacing it with an equal amout of boiling water; the quan- tity requiring to be taken out varies with the outside temperature, for while a very small quantity suffices in summer, or if kept ina warm room in winter, if kept in a cold place it will take a large quantity to keep it going. In the hands of careful operators, this machine has achieved some excellent results. Its defects are: the large quantity of water required to work it in cold weather, and the trouble of get- ting it hot twice a day; the insufficient moisture given off by the earth trays, and the position of the thermometer, which can only be seen by opening the drawer. HOWELL’S GEM HATCHER is very similar to the last described. The difference consists mainly in the egg drawer, which is a tin tray, the bottom covered with straw, on which the eggs are laid; the arrangement of moisture pans in the egg chamber is much superior to the earth of the former. The inventor claims that, by reason of improvements in con- struction, much less water is required to work it than Christy’s, which, if so, is a great advantage. The machine holds about twenty-five gallons of water, the large body of which, doubtless, retains heat longer, and therein gains the advantage. THE VOITELLIER INCUBATOR. This is a French invention, and, like the last two described, is also a Hydro-Incubator. | It is described in Brown’s work as ‘‘a strong deal chest, thirty- three inches square and twenty-one deep, containing a cylindrical zine cistern, packed tightly round with sawdust; this hot water tank is a foot in depth, and has twenty inches inside diameter; it exactly fits, and rests upon a circular wooden frame four inches in height, and this is the ‘‘hatching nest”, in which eggs are placed. It will hold about one hundred fowls’ eggs, or seventy- five duck eggs. ““Two movable glazed frames, fitting one over the other, are pro- vided at the top of the machine, allowing either of access to the eggs, when lifted off, or of a glance at the thermometer. The inlet pipe is at the right hand top corner, and the only outlet is at the bottom. Inthe centre of the front is a pipe to supply air, but 4 102 CASHMORE’S INCUBATOR. the latter is always warmed, before being admitted into the Incu- bator, by having a considerable length of pipe running alongside of the cistern. The air has no direct contact, either, with the eggs, Inasmuch as the pipe rises nine inches inside, and a current is secured at the top by the aid of a very small piece of piping, through which it is supposed the steam from the hot water escapes, and so dampens the eggs sufficiently. The cistern holds twenty gallonsof water. The nest is prepared by placing an inch of sand in the bottom, which is kept damp, over which is put straw or fine hay on which to lay the eggs”. XN Vi i 4“ 4 WS SN Ye Fic. 80.—CASHMORE’S INCUBATOR. The same remarks apply to this as to the two previously men- tioned. It requires some experience and also ‘‘ knack” in deter- mining just how much boiling water is daily necessary to keep up the temperature, and especially in variable weather. CASHMORE’S INCUBATOR, illustrated at Fig. 80, is the last of the foreign inventions we shall notice. The machine is two feet square and oneandahalf high. The egg drawer is shown in front, partly open; the bottom of this drawer is of perforated zine or wire cloth, over which is laid a piece of flannel or felting, on which the eggs are placed. = * the machine is of wood; Ow——— = an inner one ; an outer one of pine, ad of black-wal. ig. 85.—THE FAVORITE INCUBATOR. nyt. The regulator governing the heat in this Incubator, is com- posed of a group of bars in the top of the egg-chamber, and made of a material that is very sensitive to heat and cold; its action is positive, opening and closing the ventilator, and graduating the flame of:the lamp, thus checking the advance or decline of the temperature. The mechanical part is regulated by a thumb screw on the outside of the machine, which allows the tempera- ture in the egg-chamber to be fixed at any desired point. When properly adjusted, the expansion bars affected by the heat, act upon an escape lever, releasing an arm, which passes from one side of the lever to the other, at the same time turning down the lamp flame, and opening the ventilator, allowing the hot air to escape from the egg-chamber. It remains in this condition until the heat has fallen one to three degrees, when a reverse ac- tion of the escape occurs, causing the arm to return to its former eee : i THE SUFFOLK INCUBATOR. 113 position, the ventilator to close, and the flame of the lamp to be turned up; this movement takes place every fifteen to thirty minutes, and goes on continually, by means of power transmitted by a simple reel and weight.” The machine is a very good one, but being a plain infringe- ment on several other patents, it has never been patented, and its use may at some time bring trouble from that cause. THE SUFFOLK INCUBATOR (See Fig. 86.) finds its birth-place on Long Island, New York State. It is described by the inventor as follows :-— ‘‘The Incubator is strongly made of yellow pine and walnut. There is ab- = SS Sree solutely noth- ing to get out ———— i M5 of order and give trouble in Wk aS the whole in- cubator; can i} Seeiuele Pat ' be managed by any person of j\\ i \\| i ordinary intel- ligence; it will | hatch all the eggsthat would hatch under the most favor- able circum- stances in the HA\ 9 scary AMINE natural way. The incuba =< : | eel == tor is heated by hot water in _. wes galvanized iron tanks, with pe ,. Fig. 86.-THE SUFFOLK INCUBATOR fect uniformity of heat through the egg drawers. Two drawers are arranged at the side of the lower section of the tank and receive the young chickens directly after they are hatched, the chickens being dried in these drawers. The moisture, which is a continuous evaporation supplied by an earth drawer from below the eggs, and at. the proper de- gree of heat, so that the eggs do not require sprinkling at any time. The ventilation is steady, as a constant current of air 1s pass- ing through the egg drawers at all times, the air passing in at the bottom and around the lower tanks and over the moisture pan, keeps the air at an even temperature, before it passes through the egg drawer and out at the top of the incubator through the air chamber, giving a constant current of air without chilling the eggs.” ; The last paragraph of this description is rather vague ; but we 114 THE WHITE MOUNTAIN INCUBATOR. give it as we find it. The machine has no regulator and like others of its class requires more or less watching. THE WHITE MOUNTAIN INCUBATOR (See Fig. 87.) is another adaptation of other people’sideas. In all the essential points it is a minature ‘‘ Hclipse” differing simple in shape and and arrangement of egg-trays, etc. It is regulated by a battery and electric circuit. As its name indicates, it was ‘‘ hatched ” out in the “‘ Old Granite State.’’ THE ACME INCUBATOR (Shown by Fig. 88.) is the invention of the writer. It isa hot-air machine, and was designed to meet a call for a cheaper machine than the Old Cen- tennial. Fig. 87.—THE WHITE MOUNTAIN INCUBATOR. Fig. 88 shows a one-hundred and fifty egg machine with doors closed. Fig. 89 shows the inside of egg-chamber which is explained as follows :— The heat is generated by the lamp L, which has an ordinary «‘B” burner (one inch wick). A copper drum is heated by this lamp, from which the warm air radiates and passes upwards through the hot-air chamber R, where the evaporating trough H, divides the current, and chargesit with moisture. Theshield U, deflects the rising air over the drawers D D, in which the eggs are placed. By a peculiar arrangement, the air is caused to pass out of the sides of the egg ames at Y Y, and thence through the ventilators V V. THE ACME INCUBATOR. 115 The smoke and gas from the lamp are carried off outside the Incubator and cannot by any possibility enter the egg chamber, Here has been a great scource of failure in machines of this class; _the fumes from the lamp entering the egg chamber and killing the chicks. The hot-air chamber is closed by the small door E; the inner door B, is then closed and fastened, and then the outer door A, which is double and packed. By this construction the eggs in the first row next the door are equally warmas those in the back of the machine. The small windows GG, give light enough to see the thermom- eters, and also to examine the eggs when hatching, without opening the inner door, and thus cooling off the egg chamber. The lamp L is attached to and suspended under the heating box by spring catches, one of which is shown at X, and can be detached or put Ie in place in a few seconds. It can be filled without being taken off. In packing, the lamp is detached, 2 fem =the heating box also slides out, sine Heid fe im the legs are ta- ken out of their | sockets, and all are packed inside | the machine; thusreducing the | |} size of the box, to about half that = s of any other in- cubator of the Fig. aan same capacity. As before sta- : ted, the Acme is . THE ACME INCUBATOR. constructed en- tirely of metal ; is double cased, with a space of three inehes non-conducting packing between the cases. It is fitted with the same kind of thermostatic or regulating- bar which has proven so successful in the Centennial. The regulating apparatus is also similar, but much more simple. The egg-drawers are an entirely new invention of my own, and can be used throughout the entire time of incubation. With the egg-turning-trays heretofore offered, it was necessary to substi- tute a plain drawer or tray with a tight bottom when the chicks were hatching. Another advantage of the Acme turning-trays is that they will hold one more row of eggs than those of any other make. In an incubator, the size of the No. 1 Acme, this would make a difference of fully twenty eggs. The entire con- i = 116 HAIGHT’S INCUBATOR. tents of both drawers in the Acme—150 eggs—can be turned in ten seconds. A broad patent was granted on this machine May 23d, 1882. HAIGHT’S PATENT INCUBATOR 3 is the invention of Henry J. Haight, of Goshen, N.Y. We have no full description of it, Mr. Haight, not yet having placed the machine on the market; although rather complicated it is said to achieve good results. It is regulated by a thermostat. The egg-tray is worthy of particular mention; it is a rack = a — f ii iil MB Fig. 89.—THE ACME INCUBATOR. (Inside View). covered with course muslin or sacking or which the eggs lie; this rack is suspended by a bar or axle across the centre, the ends working in journals; one end of the rack being held in place by a spring bolt. A duplicate rack of same construction is laid over the first and secured to it, thus placing the eggs between the two trays; the bolt is then drawn and the two trays revolve, or turn half of a revolution, thus turning the eggs upside down, and leaving them resting on the sacking of the second tray: the first tray is then unfastened and taken off, and the eggs put back in the machine. The machine and turning-rack are both patented. HALSTED’S SELF-REGULATING INCUBATOR. 117 J. M. HALSTED’S NEW SELF-REGULATING INCUBATOR (See Fig. 90), is a California product, hailing from Oakland, and was patented Aug. 8th, 1882. The inventor says of it:— The Incubator is a hot-air Machine, warmed by a kerosene lamp, and burns about 14 gallons of oil to hatch 100 eggs, or 3 gallons to 250 eggs, in this climate. It is made of. five of the best non-conducting substances and constructed so thoroughly that years of constant service will not impair its efficiency. The front is furnished with double glass doors through which the eggs and thermometer are visible with- yut opening the machine. By the scientific manner in which she heating apparatus is constructed, every particle of heat is atilized and a great saving of oil is effected. The air thus warm- ed is automatically moistened by an ingenious device, before en- tering the egg chan- === eee ber, through which if passes in a con- stant current over the eggs “and then | through the ventila- tors, which are al- Bega, SC SR ways open, yet placed in such a position ff = a ns ek 31 Living and Dead Embryos, seven illustrations........................-.- 32 Pests LOL Lite. hese 2 oT Pee eee ee ee nS oe cee ae 35 Care‘of(Chicks=—Meed ing) yo e ry). ene ae Cee ee 5 a Lanes 38 as e Maggot Pits.......... Br ak tae SSE > aI See. Pe 40 a a Movacduiligames 2). es Desi Rt eho ene Se Pb ae 44 Mr,."Baker’s Establishimientz. 02.0... 22800. /2. 4. -speeee eee Sree 47 Incubators ws. Heng. Ce ae aie eR en ee 49 Brooders vs: Natural Mothersie-csees dees asic Pee Eee Coe eee 50 Eee Testers, four allusttaiigns a. os. oat a ey eee ce ee 51 Brooders—“ ‘Lhe iCentenmialy? ies: ee ae Ro eee eee ee 54 ge “ Bonnemain’s,”’ bwo illustrations: 2. s222..5 -252.. 22522. * 84 re pa CR CYR RI UG et SES emerge cairn CHS OU MeO ee hE Ns NUE E NEE od re 55 ae ‘ON SRHCHD BOY 7! See eRe aa se ee Ree ©. boos Soe eee 56 os CCRC M TINUE SE 1s Pat eee (i 92 cane et ee ewe At. Bt, sengy See 56 ve << Mrs: (Cheshires, three 1nstrabions' =... .....2.-sss-seeme 56 fe ‘' Christy Selby drapes act sake Sonne eee coc. See eee 57 Incubators—Egyption Egg Oven, two illustrations.....................- 60 er Chinese watching sBaskeige nse. 6 son Seo 'o2 oo 62 s Reaumur’s Hatchine)Apparattsecsss-s-.=. --..ssee eee eeee 64 be Bonnemain’s: : SiS ease ees pees |. Si Ee ee 64 ss Thetliccaleopiomyt a: i saat ee carn 5 2 tse a Re eee eee 65 ef MiHeRPOCOlO KIRIN a eet eeen ease? Eo... ts eee 65 *S The American Egg Hatching Machine......... ........... 65 = Cantelo%s .\ 0 (2. cae ene ee eee ee ae 66 Ee Mineetian' 3). Goons oat eee eee eres. s «vetoes ioe tetas 66 fs Adrien (& Triochestea sees arcs ack eed bs eee eee 66 i Carbonnier’s, two illustrations....,......-. weghiaete hes gee 67 oh Vallee sri 8 eee es os oes 2 ee 69 ve ‘Brindleyis*. (6600-2 eee S -= - : sn Ee Brees Pe 70 te Col. Stuart Wortley’ Sie. paced 2s. Ast Ges oe ceses iff w@ ef Schroders s.5ct