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Hatching - Incubation

Hatching of eggs refers to the production of baby chicks. In early days eggs were hatched by placing them under broody hens. Desi hens proved to be ideal for this purpose. Only 10 to 12 eggs can be put under 1 hen. This method of hatching is highly unsatisfactory for large-scale production of baby chicks. Incubators, which provide similar environment as that of broody hens, but more efficiently, are used at present for hatching of eggs. The incubation period for chicken eggs is 20 to 21 days, and increases up to 30 days for other poultry. After sitting for some days, a broody hen can be given some newly hatched chicks and, if they are accepted, the original eggs can be removed and replaced with more chicks. Thus hens with a better record of mothering can be better utilised for their abilities. Eggs initially need a very controlled heat input to maintain the optimum temperature of 38°C, because the embryo is microscopic in size.
Developmental Factors Embryonic development is initiated in the infundibulum portion of the oviduct at the time of fertilization. Thereafter, the environment will have major effects on the embryo. The environmental conditions in the oviduct during egg formation and during the storage period from oviposition (egg laying) to placement in the incubator can have significant effects on subsequent hatchability. Time of exposure to the various...
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Velmurugu Ravindran
Massey University
1. Introduction Often a seemingly straightforward aspect of nutrition reveals itself to be, upon closer inspection, not so simple after all. An illustration of such a conundrum is the nutrition of the newly hatched broiler chick. Conceptualizing the different challenges faced by the hatchling and solving them should be remarkably simple, but the difficulty lies in the complexity in the development of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), digestive physiology, immune system, and...
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The modern broiler chick spends 50% of its life in an embryonic state. It is therefore important to ensure that adequate nutrients are available to the developing embryo, which is completely reliant on the diet fed to the breeder hen. Consequently, the physiological status of the chick at hatching is greatly influenced by the nutrition of the breeder hen. The nutrient supply to the broiler breeder is a sum of the actual nutrient content of the diet and the quantity or volume of feed...
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Peter Ferket
North Carolina State University - NCSU
Introduction Modern agriculture constantly strives to maximize biological performance of food production in an effort to optimize economic efficiency, profit potential, and sustainability. Commercial poultry production is among the most efficient and progressively successful of all food production sectors. What factors does it take for continued success in efficient poultry production? It takes the right genetics, combined with optimum health and management practices,...
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Edgar O. Oviedo-Rondón
North Carolina State University - NCSU
Poultry Decision Makers Program at NC State: The importance of data
During IPPE 2022 in Atlanta, Edgar Oviedo-Rondón (North Carolina State University) talked about two projects where they worked together with companies to improve their decision-making process by using data. You can find more information on this program here: https://poultry.ces.ncsu.edu/the-poultry-decision-makers-workshop-series/....
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Bruce Rathgeber
Dalhousie University
INTRODUCTION Avian embryogenesis is a perfect platform to examine the effects of exogenous factors on embryonic development due to the physiological independence from the hen (Hill et al., 2004). During incubation, the management of cabinet temperature, humidity, egg turning and air composition are critical to achieving successful artificial incubation. Light is an important exogenous factor for controlling many physiological and behavioral processes in animals but the use of...
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by Sam Shafer Thanks to breakthroughs in poultry science, improvements in the genetic potential of broiler chickens have cut the average production cycle in half. Now producers are looking for ways to improve egg hatchability and the uniformity and quality of broiler chicks. Hatcheries use two major methods for incubating eggs: multi-stage systems and single-stage systems. Multi-stage incubators combine eggs from different farms and incubate embryos at...
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Athar Mahmud
Athar Mahmud and 4 more
UVAS, Lahore-Pakistan
Light plays an important role in controlling the age at sexual maturity in birds; attaining sexual maturity at an appropriate age and weight is the key to reproductive success and the present study was an effort in the same direction. To develop specific practice for quail production and to optimize the best age for photo-stimulation present experiment was conducted. In total 225 females and 75 males of 5 week old were studied. A completely randomized design with three treatment of 5...
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INTRODUCTION The storage of hatching eggs is a common routine in hatcheries and varying in duration depending on hatchery capacity and the demand of day old chicks (Gharib, 2013). In some cases, the need of extending the period of storage more than seven days may takes place. Hatching eggs are stored, generally, to minimize transport cost or to collect enough eggs for high capacity incubators. Egg storage for more than 7 days deteriorated the egg white, increased embryonic...
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INTRODUCTION The genetic improvement of modern broiler lines has contributed to the success of the poultry industry worldwide. Since the 1950s, slaughter age has been reduced by approximately 40%, and slaughter weight has more than doubled. Current lines have been genetically improved with focus on rapid growth and maximum performance based on continuous improvement of feed conversion. Embryonic development (ED) accounts nowadays for more than 33% of the whole life period of...
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Each year many people enjoy ordering chicks from a hatchery or purchasing young chicks from a feed store. These chicks are raised primarily for home laying flocks. Some of these chickens are raised for the family table, while others are kept mainly as pets. Whatever purpose the adult chickens serve, special care must be given to young chicks in order for them to survive and grow into healthy adults. Care of Chicks Chicks, or...
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Introduction Achieving the best fertility is the only goal for successful running of any breeder operation. Advanced genetic selection in broiler breeding has led to tremendous improvements in progeny performance. Body weight gain achievement in modern broiler breeders is swifter than the past hence male management is a crucial aspect to obtain good quality and quantity of semen. Due to some unforeseen events if there is heavy mortality in males, maintaining the fertility...
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Keith Bramwell
University of Arkansas (USA)
The poultry industry, as a whole, is comprised of many segments, each with varied levels of importance. Each of these segments must be closely managed and controlled in order to maintain any gains and improvements made in other areas of the entire poultry operation. For example, it is well known that most hatchability problems are a result of poor fertility. However, when egg production is attained and the flock maintains high levels of fertility, how we care for...
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Murray R. Bakst
USDA - United States Department of Agriculture
INTRODUCTION Cool temperature storage of eggs prior to incubation is a frequent practice of commercial broiler hatcheries. However, continued storage beyond 7 d leads to an increase in early embryonic mortality. The cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for early embryonic mortality associated with egg storage and means to reduce such mortality has been addressed by several investigators (Fasenko, 2007; Hamidu et al., 2011; Dymond et al., 2013)....
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This award is given to stimulate and reward research with ducks and improve the knowledge base of science as applied to commercial duck production. This research should be for a period of not more than 10 years preceding the presentation of the award. ...
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In some companies, fertility and hatchability start to decrease during the last weeks of production, for example after 50 weeks, at the same time there is a loss of feathers in the back or there is an overweight of the egg. How can we improve fertility and hatchability in the last phase of production of broiler breeders? To improve fertility and hatchability we must evaluate three important points: (a) management of the roosters, (b) hen feather cover and (c) egg size. ...
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A patented split-feeding program for broiler breeders is disrupting conventional approaches to poultry nutrition. Developed by Trouw Nutrition, a Nutreco company, the split-feeding innovation has demonstrated improved hatching rates and lower feed costs in research centre trials and commercial farm studies. The system delivers nutrients that support the birds’ requirements for egg formation at different times of day, as research conducted with laying hens shows birds’...
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Shawna Weimer
Shawna Weimer and 1 more
University of Arkansas (USA)
Shawna Weimer talks about food supply and shipping chicks with PSA
Shawna Weimer (University of Maryland) discusses one of the latest impacts COVID-19 has had on the poultry industry: Mail Order Chicks. Let's Squawk About It is a monthly interview segment by the Poultry Science Association....
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This online training series covers a broad range of topics for those new to the poultry industry as well as experienced professionals. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with experts in many areas of poultry production during the series. Each...
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INTRODUCTION Broiler hatching eggs can be stored at temperatures lower than ambient temperature before incubation, which is a common practice in commercial breeding farms and hatcheries. As per the variable market demand for 1-day-old parent stock chicks and the hatchery capacity, the duration of egg storage varies. Normally, commercial hatcheries set their eggs after 3 to 5 d of storage to minimize the negative effects of...
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