Factors in successful incubation

Factors in Successful
Incubation
Prepared by:
J. BERDOS

INCUBATION
It is a process of providing ideal
conditions necessary for the resumption of
development of an embryo.

2 Types of Incubation
1. Natural
Incubation 2. Artificial
Incubation

Natural Incubation
☺ It can be accomplished by a broody hen,
Muscovy duck or a trained capon
☺ Very efficient method of incubating eggs
 Limited number of birds that can be hatched at
a time
 External parasite infestation is also a problem

Artificial Incubation
 It is done with the aid of artificial incubator
☺ Artificial incubator is a device that provides the
necessary condition for hatching eggs
☺ These machines have virtually replaced the mother
hen and have allowed o hatching of large number of
chicks at one time.

INCUBATION
Optimum temperature
Optimum humidity
Adequate ventilation
Position and turning of eggs

*Precocial birds – quite mature at birth
** Altricial birds – very undeveloped and immature at birth.
Incubation Period of Poultry Species
Species Egg Weight (g) Incubation
Period
(days)
Proportional Parts (%)
Albumen Yolk Shell
Chickens 58 21 55.80 31.90 12.30
Muscovy* 80 35-37 52.60 35.40 12.00
Mallard* 80 28
Turkeys* 85 28 55.90 32.30 11.80
Geese 200 30-34
Guinea fowls 26-28
Pigeons** 17 18 74.0 17.90 8.10
Pheasants 22-24
Peafowls 28
Ostriches* 1400 42 53.40 32.50 14.10
Quails 11-12 16-18

Incubation Period of Poultry Species
Size of eggs of the birds relate to their body size i.e the bigger the
bird the larger that egg they produced.
Incubation period likewise, relate to the size of the eggs; bigger eggs
have longer incubation period and vice versa.
Precocial birds like chickens are quite mature when hatched. It
appears that the size of the egg yolk has something to do with the
development of young at hatch time. The yolk of the egg of these
birds constitute a large proportion of their egg
Altricial birds have smaller yolks and are quite immature at hatch
period.

Chick Development
1. Avian embryo develops from food material stored in egg
2. Embryonic growth takes place outside the hen
3. Development is rapid (16-42 days) than in the case of mammalian embryo
1. Fertilization (Natural/Artificial)
a. Natural Fertilization. Male ejaculates 0.5-1 cc or 1.5-8 billion cells. Rooster mates
15 to 100 times a day. Fertile eggs are produced 20 hours after mating with a
maximum at 3 days.
b. Artificial Insemination. Fewer males are needed (1:10 vs 1:100) and more females
are served per ejaculation.
Fertilization takes place in the infundibulum. Two layers of germ cells
(ectoderm/mesoderm) originate through a process known as
gastrulation. Ectoderm develops nervous system, parts of the eyes, the
feathers, beak, claws and skin. Mesoderm develops skeleton, muscles,
blood, reproductive and excretory.
1. Yolk sac envelops yolk and serves as temporary source of nutrient.
2. Amnion with amnion sac filled with fluid where embryo floats and prevents it from shock.
3. Allantois involves in the oxygenation of blood and removal of CO2 a.k.a embryonic kidney.
4. Chorion helps in completing metabolic functions.
5. Chick needs protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and water for its development
Unique
Features
Stages of
Development
Early
Embryonic
Development
Embryonic
Development
During
Incubation
You can watch at https://youtu.be/PedajVADLGw for Chicken Embryo Development

Chick development is temporarily
arrested when the egg is laid,
particularly at a temperature below (75-
30 oF); this is known as physiology zero.
Above this temperature, chick
development is initiated.
Optimum
temperature

The optimum temperature for incubation
varies with a number of factors such as:
Optimum
temperature
1.
Factors
Inherent
to the
Egg
2. Stage of
incubation
3. The
Incubating
machine

Optimum
temperature
Over heating is deleterious to the chick. The embryo is killed at an incubation
temperature of 115 oF for 3 hours. Severe heat stress causes clubbed down,
wiry down unsteady gait, crooked toes and high embryonic mortality. High
temperature during incubation also causes early hatch.
Cooling of the incubator can lengthens incubation
period and increases incidence of malposition
Cooling during the last 2 days of incubation is critical in case
of prolonged power failures, eggs in the upper section are
over-heated and eggs in the lower section are chilled.
Low incubation temperature causes late hatch, low hatch
and abnormal embryos (ex. 2 hearts, defective neural tube
and defective neural brain).

It is evident that within an incubation temperature of 96-103 oF, hatchability is much lower with lower than higher
o o
Optimum
temperature
oF %Hatch
96 10
97 47
98 70
99 82
100 86
101 84
102 75
103 50
EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON
HATCHABILITY

Optimum
humidity
Hatching eggs lost moisture during
incubation.
 Low humidity causes chicks smeared
with egg contents or shell, chicks with
stuck down.
 Very high humidity causes early hatch
and chicks navel will not close properly.
 High humidity coupled with high
temperature cause small and sticky
chicks
☺ A relative humidity of 60% for chicken is
considered optimum during the first 19
days of incubation
☺ During the last two days of incubation,
a humidity of 75% (in the hatcher) is

☺ The incubator must provide an oxygen
level of 21% and carbon dioxide
concentration of 0.50%.
 At high altitude, air contains less
oxygen causing low hemoglobin level of
the embryo and consequently negating
hatchability.
☺ Injecting oxygen into the incubator
corrects the problem.
Adequate
ventilation

☺ Hatching eggs must be positioned
large end up at 45o and must be
turned to a position 45o from vertical,
then reversed in the opposite
direction to a similar position. This
must be done at least 8 times a day
during the first 18-19 days of
incubation.
☺ Hatchability is affected by the number
of times the eggs are turned daily
Position and
turning of eggs

Position and
turning of eggs Times Turned
(daily)
%Hatchability
2 67.40
4 70.40
6 73.70
8 78.10

Turning of eggs prevents embryo from coming in contact with the shell membrane and also effect uniform
distribution of heat in the egg.
The position of eggs in the incubator is
important for the following reasons:
Position and
turning of eggs
The chicks head develop in the
butt or large end of the egg
Embryo rotation becomes
easier
The beak readily breaks air cell
when pulmonary respiration
begins
1
2
3

Practices in
Artificial
Incubation 1. Selection of Hatching
Eggs
2. Handling Eggs Prior to
Incubation
3. Producing Quality Hatching
Eggs
4. Treatment of Hatching
Eggs
5. Eggshell Sanitizers 6. Warming Eggs Prior to
Incubation
7. Candling 8. Hardening of Chicks
9. Grading of Chicks 10. Sexing of Chicks
11. Calculation of hatchability 12. Major Factors Affecting
Hatchability

Practices in
Artificial
Incubation
1. Selection of
Hatching Eggs
ize
hape
hell quality

Practices in Artificial
Incubation 1. Selection of Hatching Eggs
Size
 Extremely large, small or large
size eggs as well as double yolk
eggs must not be hatched.
☺ Eggs with a weight of 52-58
grams are considered to be in the
normal weight range.

Shape
☺ Eggs closest to ovoid shape
hatch best.
 Do not hatch eggs with
imperfections such as ridges
and pointed ends as they do
not hatch well.

Shell quality
 Eggs with thin, flacky and chalky
shell do not hatch well.

Interior quality
 Eggs with tremulous
air cells do not hatch
well.
 Eggs with meat or
blood spot must not be
set.

Incubation 2. Handling Eggs Prior to Incubation
Holding eggs will allow operators to be able to set collected
eggs for several days at the same time.
Egg holding room – A temperature of 65 oF at 75-80% relative humidity
curtails embryonic development completely. Reduction of egg
temperature to 65 oF should be done gradually.
Duration of Egg Holding – Storing for days will cause little perceptible reduction
in hatchability and quality of chicks. For each day of storage, hatching time is
delayed by 30 minutes and 4% reduction in hatchability after 4 days.
Position of Eggs – Best hatch is obtained when eggs are stored with
small end pointed downward.
Turning of Eggs – Turn eggs side to side over a 90o angle if eggs are
held for more than a week.

condition
1. Stir
2. Ventilate
Incubation 3. Producing Quality Hatching Eggs
Use of proper nesting
material
1. Absorbent
2. Durable
3. Coarse
4. Dust free
5. Good cushion quality
Keep floor eggs to a minimum
1. Enough nest (one nest/five
hens)
2. Clean nest – Open at daytime
and close at night
3. Pick floor eggs
4. Good nesting material
5. Break up broody hen
Keep litter in good condition
1. Stir
2. Ventilate
3. Avoid leakage of water troughs Collect Eggs Often

Incubation 4. Treatment of Hatching Eggs
Wiping
Not acceptable way of
reducing the incidence of
contaminated eggs unless the cloth
is sanitized between each egg.
Scraping
Some organic debris will be
compacted into the mouth of the
underlying pores; with enough
pores blocked, the embryo will die
of asphyxiation in the final period
of incubation.
Fumigation
Fumigating eggs with
formaldehyde is an efficient and
effective method of controlling and
effective method of controlling the
bacterial load on eggs, provided
the shell in not grossly
contaminated with organic
material.

Incubation 5. Eggshell Sanitizers
Formaldehyde
gas
Quaternary
ammonium
compound
Chlorine
Dioxide Iodine
Ozone

Incubation 6. Warming Eggs Prior to Incubation
After taking out eggs from the egg
holding room, warm egg (4-6 hours) to
room temperature before setting them in
the incubator.
.
Hatching times is delayed
and lowers hatchability when
eggs are not warmed prior to
incubation.
Preincubation is subjecting eggs to a temperature
of 101 oF (32.8 OC) for 6-8 hours and cooling to
room temperature before setting. Preincubation
increases hatchability by 1-2 % However, the
increase cost to preincubate offsets the slight
increase in hatchability.

Incubation 7. Candling
Candling is the process of subjecting eggs through a beam of light, in a dark room, to
determine the development of hatching eggs. Egg testing should be performed twice
during the incubation period. This is carried out at 5 to 7 days of incubation to remove all
infertile eggs and eggs with dead embryos and at 14 to 18 days to remove embryos dead
after the first test. Infertile eggs appear clear, fertile eggs have spider-like structure and
eggs with dead embryo have blood ring
Fertile
Infertile

Incubation 8. Hardening of Chicks
Newly hatched chicks have soft abdomen, feathers are not completely fluffed out, and do
not stand. Hardening of chicks is a process performed by leaving the chicks in the chick
boxes for 4-5 hours to allow for easier handling of chicks when doing works such as chick
grading and or sexing of the chicks.

Incubation 9. Grading of Chicks
As a rule, only quality chicks must be passed on to customers. Quality
standards for chicks must be considered such as;
1. No chick deformities
2. No chick with unhealed navels
3. Chicks must be above a minimum weight
4. Chicks are not dehydrated
5. Down color must be representative of the breed
6. Chicks stand up well and are lively

Incubation 10. Sexing of chicks
Commercial egg production stock is sexed at
the time of hatching. Leghorn cockerels are
normally killed and discarded with the
hatchery refuse. Chicks are hatched by two
principal methods;
1. Examination of cloacal wall – vent sexing
2. Examination of testis or ovary by insertion
of a small light into the cloaca.
3. Feather sexing (color; size of coverts and
primaries) – relative length of the primary
and covert feathers of the wing (females –
fast feathering; has long primary
feathers); females has gold, buff or red
feathers; males have white, light or yellow
feathers.

Incubation 11. Calculation of hatchability
𝐻𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 % =
Number of chicks Hatched
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑔𝑔𝑠
𝑥 100
Example:
Total fertile eggs= 85
Total hatched=55
Solution:
(55/85)*100
Answer:
64.70%

Incubation 12. Major Factors Affecting Hatchability
a. Hatchability – 85%
b. Egg production
c. Inbreeding
d. Age
e. Crossbreeding and Incrossbreeding
f. Mating
g. Lethal and semi-lethal genes

REFERENCES:
1. CLSU POULTRY PRODUCTION SYLLABUS
LECTURE MANUAL
2. GOOGLE IMAGES
3. POULTRY HUB

Factors in successful incubation

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (20)

Similaire à Factors in successful incubation

Similaire à Factors in successful incubation (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Factors in successful incubation