Whether eggs come from a common chicken or an exotic bird, you must store and incubate them carefully for a successful hatch. Environmental conditions, handling, sanitation, and record keeping are all important factors when it comes to incubating and hatching eggs.
Fertile egg quality
A fertile egg is alive; each egg contains living cells that can become a viable embryo and then a chick.
Eggs are fragile and a successful hatch begins with undamaged eggs that are fresh, clean, and fertile.
You can produce fertile eggs yourself or obtain them elsewhere. While commercial hatcheries
produce quality eggs that are highly fertile, many do not ship small quantities. If you mail order
eggs, be sure to pick them up promptly from your receiving area. Hatchability will decrease if eggs
are handled poorly or get too hot or too cold in transit.
If you produce the eggs on site, you must care for the breeding stock properly to ensure maximum
fertility. Egg quality and embryo survival are influenced by hen and sire’s:
◆ age
◆ health
◆ nutrition
◆ ratio
◆ genetics
◆ stress
Factors that affect hatchability
Breeder :-
Breeder nutrition
Disease
Mating activity
Egg damage
Correct male and female
body weight
Egg sanitation
Egg storage
Hatchery:-
Sanitation
Egg storage
Egg damage
Incubation—Management of
setters and hatchers
Chick handling
Collecting and storing fertile eggs
Fertile eggs must be collected carefully and stored properly until they are incubated. Keeping the eggs at proper storage temperatures keeps the embryo from starting and stopping development, which increases embryo mortality. Collecting eggs frequently and storing them properly delays embryo development until you are ready to incubate them.
Egg storage reminders:-
Store less than 10 days
• Maintain temperature between 55 to 65°F
• Keep relative humidity at 75 percent
• Turn eggs stored more than a week
• Handle eggs with care!
Cleaning and culling
Do not incubate eggs that are cracked, misshapen, soiled, or unusually small or large. These rarely
hatch and can potentially contaminate the good eggs. Do not wash or wipe eggs with a damp cloth.
Doing so can remove the egg’s protective layer and allow disease and bacteria to enter. It can also
spread bacteria from one dirty egg to others.
You can gently buff soiled eggs with fine sand paper but this can also damage the egg’s protective coating. It is best to avoid incubating soiled eggs.
General care
Once you have eggs to incubate, avoid damaging or contaminating them. Wash your hands frequently
to remove bacteria from your hands.
Storage time
Eggs should be set as soon after you collect them as possible. Storing eggs for at least three days
helps prepare them for incubation; however, fresh and stored eggs should not be set together.
It is best to incubate eggs within 7 to 10 days of their being laid. Hatchability decreases rapidly
when eggs are stored for more than 10 days. After 7 days, hatchability decreases 0.5 to 1.5 percent
per day. Each day in storage adds one hour to the incubation time.
Temperature and humidity during storage
Fertile eggs should be stored between 55 and 65°F. If fertile eggs reach temperatures above
72°F, embryos will begin to develop abnormally, weaken, and die. Embryos stored below 46°F also
have high embryo mortality. Room temperature is generally too warm and the refrigerator is too cold
for storing fertile eggs. If you plan to store eggs in a refrigerator, adjust it to an appropriate temperature.
Fertile eggs should be stored at 70 to 80 percent relative humidity. High humidity can cause condensation
to form on the eggshell. This can clog the pores on the eggshell and cause contamination the same way washing does. Clogging the pores can also suffocate the embryo.
Low humidity during storage can make the egg lose internal moisture and kill the embryo. To increase the humidity, place a pan of water in the storage room. It is the surface area of the water influences humidity, not the depth of the water. Avoid drafts; these can dry the eggs out even when humidity is within the appropriate range.
Positioning and turning eggs during storage
If you plan to store eggs for less than ten days before incubating, place them on flats with the
large end up. You do not need to turn the eggs if they will be incubated within a week of being laid. You should cover the eggs with a loose material to keep them clean.
If you plan to store eggs for more than 10 days, tilt them from side to side over a 90-degree angle once or twice daily. You can do this by placing a six-inch block under one end of the flat, switching the end of the flat each day until incubation.