The Chickipedia

Trouble Shooting Taking the hatching egg quality as given, an embryo needs five things to grow satisfactorily and to develop into a healthy chick: Correct incubation temperature. Adequate supply of oxygen and removal of CO2. Loss of a certain amount of water as moisture vapour....

General hygiene Good hygiene is paramount to good results. Not everyone has modern, state-of-the-art designer hatcheries but with attention to detail the results can be as good. Starting with personnel, they should be provided with shower facilities and clean clothing daily and showering must include...

Chick processing The chicks are now hatched and ready to be processed. But even a good hatch can still be spoiled. Hygiene, careful handling and attention to the chicks are essential to maintain the best quality. Chicks will tell you by their behaviour and noise...

The hatching cycle In the hatcher the eggs will stay for three days. During this time the embryo will develop into a chick. After 19 days of incubation it will penetrate the inner shell membrane and lung respiration will start. The additional available oxygen enables...

Transparency Transparency is a means of identifying unfertilised and prematurely dead embryos. The egg trays are passed over a powerful light source which clearly shows unfertilised and prematurely dead embryos. Transparency is not systematically carried out in all hatcheries, as it requires additional equipment and...

Single-stage vs. multi-stage incubation Single-stage means that all eggs within an incubator are set together. So all eggs are in the same embryonic stage. This enables the user to adjust the temperature, humidity and ventilation setpoints according to the needs of the embryo, possibly leading...

The hatching egg The hatching egg is not “just like any egg”. It contains a living embryo which has all the genetic potential the R&D department of H&N International has combined over many years of selection.In order to enable the embryo to express this potential...

Preparing the breeding flock to move to the laying house Most people who are involved in commercial hatchery practise have seen different management guides and may think ‘if you have seen one, you’ve seen all’. Others take the contents more seriously and expect frequent up-dates...