How to Hatch from Scratch

Kelly Brannan, Global Hatchery Specialist at H&N International

Our global team of veterinary experts of various kinds welcomes a new member: Kelly Brannan joined H&N International in July 2024 as the new Global Hatchery Specialist fully dedicated to the best start in the lives of H&N birds from – and even before – hatching.

“I was excited when I learned about H&N, one of the oldest genetic companies in the world with this dynamic and diverse team! The brand turns 80 next year, and there’s such a rich history in the company that’s still growing strong-I’m excited to be a part of it!”

Animals everywhere

US-born in 1981, Kelly spent her early years in the Sandhills region of North Carolina. Her introduction to agriculture begins early as her family ran a small farm with goats, chickens, and various other animals as well.

She recalls: “I wanted to be a veterinarian, so I was always looking for opportunities to work with animals.”

The fascination with chicken struck during her undergraduate studies at North Carolina State University, when she took a Poultry Science class as an elective. The class was taught by Dr. Carmen R. “Carm” Parkhurst, Department Head of Department of Poultry Science and author (with co-author George J. Mountney, 1988) of “Poultry Meat and Egg Production”.

A global career spawns

Meeting Carm was kind of karmic to her career: “He was such a fantastic teacher! He was also the head of the poultry judging team, which I joined and ended up qualifying for nationals! The competition was my first time travelling out of the state and the experience really opened my eyes to the opportunities available working with poultry!” Brannan says.

She was amazed about the many aspects and opportunities available within the poultry industry: “the career options are so diverse! You can specialize in nutrition, food safety, health and welfare and many more. And even within a specific area, like the hatchery, you still have multiple disciplines: developmental physiology of the embryo, physics of heat transfer and ventilation in incubation, hen nutrition in relation to yolk content, and so much more! There are always new elements to consider that continue to broaden your knowledge!”

Being where everything starts

Already during her studies, she started working part-time with vaccination company Embrex in the early 2000’s. A lot of their research was focused on their trademarked Inovoject machines, which involved incubation as the machines allow hatcheries to vaccinate during the transfer from the setters to the hatchers. “The idea that this was where it all started, that the first step to successful poultry rearing was the hatchery, was so intriguing for me”, Brannan says.

“Then – and now – we’re seeing rapid genetic change that pushes bird performance to its limit, yet incubation time remained set at 21 days. That’s why both my Master’s and PhD research focused on how do we optimize embryo development during incubation so that the chick is prepared for post-hatch performance.”

“Genetic selection has made remarkable progress in the past ten years, with decreased time to market weight for broilers and increased layer production cycles. But incubation still takes 21 days-there’s no room for error in the setter”, says Brannan.

Poultry had an even greater influence on her life when Brannan moved to South Africa to live with her husband. The two met in a chicken house when he was visiting a friend in the US, in the same laboratory where she was doing her studies. “We were weighing birds, and he thought I looked nice wearing a hair net, coveralls, and farm boots”, she laughs. “We were both surrounded by the ubiquitous smell of chicken poo in the air, which in hindsight probably doesn’t sound romantic!” The couple, like H&Ns founders Art and Mary Heisdorf, share the fascination of chicken. “My husband works in poultry nutrition, and we joke about whether the feed or the hatchery has the greatest influence on hen performance. Between you and me: It’s the hatchery, obviously!”

What’s next?

Brannan says it’s hard to predict the global future of hatchery, as each region has its own challenges. “I think we will see a lot more automation in the hatchery, more implementation of in-ovo sexing technology, improvements in monitoring incubation conditions to better match embryo requirements, as well as the incorporation of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to more objectively evaluate chick quality or to handle vent sexing”, she explains.

Brannan believes that there are major opportunities in combining production and quality data to optimize operation performance. Particularly in the hatchery, where a large amount of data is routinely collected. “There is often a delay between when data is collected and when it is interpreted. Here is where I see major opportunities in improving operational performance, especially with the potential for technology to improve the process of data collection and analysis”, she concludes.

Hatchery-Know How systemized

The requirements of the embryo remain the roughly the same in terms of temperature, turning, gas exchange, and ventilation as when the first hen sat on her nest. “But how we achieve the correct conditions will vary widely with machine type, breed, storage conditions, and hatchery facilities, just to name a few factors”, explains Brannan.

“With H&N, I want to work closely with hatcheries to build a knowledge base of what the embryo needs in certain conditions and how we can achieve it at your specific operation.

It’s critical to start with the “why”: Why temperature is important, why turning is critical, and so on. “Once that is understood we can adapt the ‘how’ to fit the operation and continue adapting as the hatchery grows and expands”, outlines Brannan. “The hatchery is the foundation of long-term bird performance so it’s critical to get the basics right.”

In her new role she is looking forward to working with all the different hatcheries, learning about their specific challenges, and working with them to hatch the best H&N chick possible!

With her entire professional and private life so saturated with chicken, what does a hatchery specialist do in her spare time? “I like to be outdoors. We have a lot of beautiful natural parks here in South Africa. I also enjoy lifting weights and listening to music to relax at home!”

We warmly welcome Kelly Brannan and wish her all the best for her new role!