Introduction of Hatching Process
Farmers usually are interested in artificial incubation of their own chicks. The success of this project depends on proper care of the breeding, careful collection and storage of the fertile eggs. These will dramatically improve the chances for a successful hatch. And the incubation environment must also be carefully controlled,during the incubation process. So healthy chicks are born.
In a word, management practice of incubator and fertile eggs are equally important to hatching.
Successful incubation by the inexperienced poultry man can be accomplished with our automatic incubator. Our incubators are full-auto temperature, humidity, alarm, ventilation and egg-turning.
The following topics discussed as following will help improve the producer's success.
Step 1: Egg Care and Storage
Step 2: Selection of Hatching Eggs
Step 1:Egg Care and Storage
Many farmers care of the incubation process but not care of the fertilize eggs. Even before incubation starts, the embryo is developing and needs proper care. Hatching eggs suffer from reduced hatchability if the eggs are not cared properly. Below are tips to help maintain hatching egg quality.
• Select eggs from breeders that (1) well developed, mature and healthy; (2) compatible with their mates(1:10) will produce a high percentage of fertile eggs; (3) are not disturbed much during the mating season; (4) fed a complete breeding diet; (5) not directly related [brother, sister, mother, father, etc.]
• Collect eggs at least three times daily. When daily high temperatures exceed 85F(30℃), increase egg collection to five times daily. Collect two or three times in the morning and one or two times in the afternoon. Eggs left in the nest for more longer than 24 hours tend to be poor hatchability.
• Slightly soiled eggs can be used for hatching, it won’t cause hatching problems, but dirty eggs should not be saved. Do not wash eggs. If it is necessary to wash eggs, use a damp cloth with warm water. This causes the egg to sweat the dirt out of the pores. Never use cold water to clean eggs. Also, do not soak the eggs in water. If the egg is soaked in water for a period of time, the temperature difference can’t equalize and bacteria has a greater chance of entering eggs. Be sure eggs are dry before storing.
• Store eggs in a cool-humid storage area. Ideal storage conditions is 55 degree F (13℃)temperature and 75% relative humidity. Store the clean fertile eggs in an area which is kept at 55°- 60°F (13℃-16℃)and 70-75% humidity. Never store eggs at temperatures about 75°F(24℃) and at humidity lower than 40%. These conditions can decrease hatchability dramatically. Slant or turn the fertile eggs daily when stored. Store the eggs with the big side upward or putting the eggs flat
• For the first-seven days, hatching rate of fertilized eggs is highest, but declines rapidly afterward. Therefore, do not store eggs more than 7 days before incubating. Do not store eggs for more than 10-14 days. After 14 days of storage, hatchability begins to decline significantly. After 3 weeks of storage, hatchability drops to almost zero. Plan ahead and have a regular hatching schedule to avoid storage problems and reduced hatches.
If you already have a batch of chickens,and a rooster, the majority of the eggs they lay will be fertile. Ideally, the eggs are stored for 3 days then transferred to the incubator. If you don’t have chicken, find a friend or a nearby farmer who has and ask if you can buy some fertile eggs. The closer to home, the better the egg source.
