Hatchery Tips

Contents

Incubation Times
Evaluating Chick Quality at Hatch
Analyzing Poor Chick Quality
Hatchery Records

Incubation Times

Length of incubation for eggs produced by “Brown Nick” parent stock and stored from one to five days require the following incubation periods:

Length of incubation for eggs produced by “White Egg” parent stock and stored from one to five days require the following incubation periods:

If the hatching eggs are to be held for more than five days, add 1 hour incubation time per storage day exceeding five days.

Evaluating Chick Quality at Hatch

Quality in a product has been defined as the inherent properties which determine the product’s degree of excellence. A day old chick is considered to be of good quality if it is able, given good management, to grow quickly and achieve its maximum genetic potential.

Fortunately for the hatchery manager, there are several characteristics which separate prime quality chicks from second quality chicks. The chick should have a body well developed in both length and in the abdomen. The abdomen should appear filled or plump. The down must shine and stand out well in all directions. The down should not be sticky to the touch. The chicks must have good color according to their breed. The legs must appear relatively stout, and have straight extended toes. The chick must also show an erect stance with clear eyes and act lively when not asleep. The navel must be well closed, dry and smooth, with a slight indentation. Chicks which do not meet these standards are less than prime quality, and are subject to higher mortalityMore than a 0.1 weekly mortality. The relationship between chick abnormalities and breeder flock and/or incubation problems appears in the following table.

Analyzing Poor Chick Quality

Examining the chicks after hatch can indicate whether anything went wrong during incubation and how well they will perform in the future. Chicks which appear weak or show serious abnormalities should be culled. Culling improves the average quality of the layer chicks that will be shipped to your customers, and decreases disease susceptibility. (Copied from University of Georgia Poultry Tips.)

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Observation	Possible Cause
Clear Eggs	Infertile. Very early mortalityMore than a 0.1 weekly mortality.
Bloodring (embryonic death 2 – 4 days)	Diseased breeding flock Incubating temperature too high Incubating temperature too low Old eggs Fumigation between 24 to 96 hours of incubation
Dead embryos 2nd week of incubation	Temperature too high Temperature too low Eggs not turned Inadequate breeder ration Too much CO₂in air (not enough ventilationThe farm needs enough fans to extract the hot air inside of the farm.) Eggs not cooled prior to incubation
Hatch late	Temperature too low, 1 – 19 days Humidity too low, 1 – 19 days Incorrect thermometer Large eggs Old eggs. Temperature too low in hatcher Variable room temperature
Hatch early	Temperature too high, 1 – 19 days Incorrect thermometer Small eggs Humidity too high, 1 – 19 days
Air cell too small	Temperature too high, 1 – 19 days Inadequate breeder ration Large eggs.
Air cell too large	Humidity too low, 1 – 19 days Small eggs
Fully developed embryo dead with beakThe birds use the beak for eating but also for exploring not in air cell	Temperature too high, 19th day Humidity too high, 19th day Inadequate breeder ration
Fully developed embryo dead with beakThe birds use the beak for eating but also for exploring not in air cell	Temperature too high, 20 – 21 days Humidity too high, 20 – 21 daysI Inadequate breeder ration Incubator air circulation poor
Chicks pipping early	Temperature too high, 1 – 19 days
Chicks dead after pipping shell	Temperature too high, 20 – 21 days Inadequate breeder ration Inadequate air circulation, 20 – 21 days Incorrect temperature, 1 – 19 days Temperature too low immediately after egg transfer is made to hatcher CO₂ content of air is too high, 20 – 21 days Thin-shelled eggs Disease in breeding flock
Trays not uniform in hatch or chick quality	Inadequate incubator air circulation Eggs of different sizes Eggs of different breeds Eggs of different age when set Disease or stressThe reduction of light intensity could be a good tool to reduce some of the stress in the birds. in some breeder flock
Sticky chicks (shell, down sticking to chicks)	Humidity too low, 20 – 21 days Temperature too high, 20 – 21 days Down collections not adequate Eggs transferred too late
Sticky chicks (albumen sticking to chick down)	Temperature too low, 20 – 21 days Inadequate air in hatcher Air speed too slow, 20 – 21 days; Humidity too high, 20 – 21 days Old eggs
Chicks too large	Large eggs Humidity too high, 1 – 19 days
Chicks too small	Small eggs Humidity too low, 1 – 19 days Thin, porous shells Eggs produced in hot weather
Crippled chicks	Variation in temperature, 1 – 21 days
Mushy chicks	Unsanitary incubator conditions
Unhealed navel, dry	Humidity too high, 20 – 21 days Temperature too low, 20 – 21 days Inadequate breeder ration Humidity not lowered after hatching completed
Chicks cannot stand	Improper temperature, 1 – 21 days Humidity too high, 1 – 19 days Breeder ration inadequate
Unhealed navel, wet and odorous (mushy chicks) Soft chicks (abdomen).	Omphalitis Unsanitary hatchery and incubators Humidity too high, 1 – 19 days Temperature too low, 1 – 19 days
Closed eyes	Loose down in hatcher Down collectors not adequate Temperature too high, 20 – 21 days Humidity too low, 20 – 21 days
Chicks dehydrated	Humidity too low, 20 – 21 days Eggs set too early Chicks left in hatcher too long after hatch complete
Malpositions	Continuous lightThe light is crucial for achieving the egg size that market requieres in incubators Inadequate breeder ration Old breeders Eggs set small end up.

Hatchery Records

Accurate hatchery records are essential in order to evaluate overall performance and for use in analysis of hatchability and chick quality problems. The following information should be monitored continuously and recorded regularly.

Egg storage conditions.
Setter and hatcher conditions including any problems such as high temperature alarms or turning failures.
Total hatchability percentage.
Percent hatch of saleable pulletsBird 0-17 weeks.
Percent fertility as determined by candling and breakout of eggs incubated 7 to 10 days.
Percent hatch of fertile eggs.
Early embryonic death (EED) loss as determined by candling and breakout of eggs incubated 7 to 10 days.
Middle and late incubation death loss as determined by breakout and analysis of unhatched eggs on hatch day

Table 8: Production Goals “White Egg” Parent Stock

Table 9: Production Goals “Brown Nick” Parent Stock

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