Poultry Lecture Notes PDF

# Incubation and Hatching ## Incubation and Hatching - The image shows a cycle of a hen's egg. - The cycle starts with a hen laying an egg in a nest. - Then, the hen sits on the egg to incubate it, keeping it warm. - The chick grows inside the egg and eventually hatches, breaking free from the she...

# Incubation and Hatching ## Incubation and Hatching - The image shows a cycle of a hen's egg. - The cycle starts with a hen laying an egg in a nest. - Then, the hen sits on the egg to incubate it, keeping it warm. - The chick grows inside the egg and eventually hatches, breaking free from the shell. ## Some Facts about fertility and fertile eggs - To get fertile eggs, three things are necessary: maturity, vitality, and comfort. - The average duration of fertility from a single mating is 10 to 14 days. - A single mating can produce up to 14 fertile eggs. - Sperm storage tubules are located in the utero-vaginal junction. - Fertilized and unfertilized eggs look the same. - The formula for calculating fertility is: **Fertility %= (No of fertile eggs/Total number of eggs laid) *100** ## Factors that influence egg fertility and hatchability - Breeder factors that affect hatchability include: - Strain - Health - Nutrition - Age of the flock - Egg size, weight, and quality - Egg storage duration and conditions ## Maintaining high fertility - To maintain high fertility levels, breeder flocks should be at 40 to 50 weeks of age with 30-35-week-old roosters. ## How to maintain hatching egg quality - **Avoid floor eggs.** - **Provide adequate nesting material.** - **Provide adequate ventilation to keep the nesting material dry and the hens comfortable.** - **Block off the corners of the pen before the hens start to lay.** - **Have enough nests.** - **Break up broody hens.** - **Place the nests in the pen before the birds start laying.** - **Place the nesting material in the nests when the nests are placed in the pens.** - **The lowest nest perch should be no more than 20 cm above the floor.** ## Egg Storage - **Store eggs in a cool-humid storage area.** - **Ideal storage conditions include a 13-18°C and 75%RH.** - **Store the eggs with the small end pointed downward.** - **Alter egg position periodically if not incubating within 4-6 days.** - **Turn the eggs to a new position daily until placing in the incubator.** - **Hatchability holds reasonably well up to seven days, but declines rapidly afterward. Therefore, do not store eggs more than 7 days before incubating.** - **After 3 weeks of storage, hatchability drops to almost zero.** - **Allow cool eggs to warm slowly to room temperature before placing in the incubator.** - **Abrupt warming from 13 to 37.8°C causes moisture condensation on the egg shell that leads to disease and reduced hatches.** - **After the egg is laid, decrease the temperature of the egg** - **By bringing the internal temperature of the egg below the physiological temperature of 21°C, further development of the embryo stops.** - **Duration of storage of hatching eggs can have a dramatic impact on percent hatchability.** - **It is recommended to store eggs not more than 3 days (maximum 7 days) at a temperature of 13-18°C and relative humidity (RH%) of approximately 78%.** - **Even after 7 days storage, a significant reduction in hatchability was noted.** - **Eggs must be stored with the large end up.** - **If the eggs are to be held for more than 7 days prior to setting, it is recommended to turn the eggs at the store room.** ## Egg Sanitation - **Fertile eggs must be disinfected immediately after collection.** - **The percentage of contamination of hatching eggs should not exceed 0.5% in any hatch.** ## Clean Nesting Material - **Using high-quality litter material and practicing good litter management can significantly reduce the percentage of dirty eggs, contamination, explosions, and second-quality chicks.** ## Egg collection - **Collect eggs at least three times daily.** - **When daily high temperatures exceed 29°C, increase egg collection to five times daily.** - **Collect two or three times in the morning and one or two times in the afternoon.** ## Egg Cleaning - **Slightly soiled eggs can be used for hatching purposes without causing hatching problems, but dirty eggs should not be saved.** - **Do not wash dirty eggs.** ## Turning during storage - **Even during storage, eggs should be turned. They do not need to be turned as often as they do during incubation, however.** - **Once a day should do the trick, back and forth for 45° each time.** ## Egg Shape - A good quality hatching egg has a blunt side containing a small air cell and a clearly recognizable sharp end. - Too many abnormal or misshapen eggs signify immaturity of the shell gland; this can be caused by young parent stock, disease, stress, and overcrowding in the flock. ## Egg Transport Management - **Egg carts should be well cushioned and stable while the eggs are being transported.** - **Avoid temperature shocks when the eggs are being transferred outside or inside.** ## Some tips to help poultry men to maintain hatching egg quality. - Collect eggs at least three times daily. - When daily high temperatures exceed 29°C, increase egg collection to five times daily. - Slightly soiled eggs can be used for hatching purposes without causing hatching problems, but dirty eggs should not be saved. - Do not wash dirty eggs. - Store eggs in a cool-humid storage area. Ideal storage conditions include a 18°C and 75%RH. - Store the eggs with the small end pointed downward. - Alter egg position periodically if not incubating within 4-6 days. - Turn the eggs to a new position daily until placing in the incubator. - Hatchability holds reasonably well up to seven days, but declines rapidly afterward. Therefore, do not store eggs more than 7 days before incubating. - After 3 weeks of storage, hatchability drops to almost zero. - Allow cool eggs to warm slowly to room temperature before placing in the incubator. - Abrupt warming from 13 to 37.8°C causes moisture condensation on the egg shell that leads to disease and reduced hatches. ## Hatchers Sanitations - **Cleaning and disinfection of incubator** - **The incubator is to be cleaned thoroughly.** - **The interior of the machine is to be washed with 4% solution of washing soda followed by disinfection with phenyl or Lysol.** - **Loose fittings of the machine are to be removed, washed and disinfected separately, and be fitted at their respective places.** - **The most important tools available for use in cleaning and disinfecting an incubator and hatcher are water, detergent, and suitable disinfectant.** - **Disinfectants cannot replace poor cleaning** ## Incubation - **Natural and artificial incubation** - **Natural incubation** - It is the process of obtaining chicks by keeping fertile eggs under the hen. - **Artificial incubation** - Use of a machine which warms, turns, humidifies bird eggs to incubate and eventually hatch them. - **Incubator** - An apparatus for maintaining optimal conditions (temperature, humidity, turning, and Ventilation) for growth and development, and for hatching eggs. ## Types of Incubators - **I. Still air incubator** - Has no fans, so the air is allowed to stratify. - Difficult to maintain proper temperature and humidity. - Temperature: 38°C Humidity 60-65% during incubation and 70-75% at hatching time. - Ventilation provided through natural means. - **II. Forced air incubator** - Air circulates for a more even temperature throughout the incubator. - Moving air incubators operate 1°C cooler than still air incubators. - Complete atomization: Accurate maintenance of temperature and humidity, with a capacity of over 100,000 eggs. ## Egg incubator structure diagram - The diagram shows the different components of an egg incubator. - It includes: - **Inlet opening** - **Eggs** - **Fan** - **Turning unit** - **Outlet opening** - **Control unit** - **Wet and dry bulb thermometer** - **Egg tray** - **Insulated body** - **Water reservoir** - **Heater** - **A second image shows a different incubator with:** - **Egg turning system** - **Egg holder** - **Controller** - **Sensor** - **Ducting** - **Egg tray** - **Hatchertray** - **Humidity system** - **Air adjusting vent** ## Requirements of incubation - **Temperature** - **Relative humidity** - **Ventilation** - **Turning of the eggs** ## Five incubation temperature zones - The image shows a thermometer with five zones: - -2.0°C: **Zone of cold injury** - 20.0°C: **Zone of suspended development** - 35.0°C: **Zone of disproportionate development** - 40.5 °C: **Zone of hatching potential** - Above 40.5°C: **Zone of heat injury** ## Humidity - The ideal humidity or moisture level for incubation is approximately 60 to 65% relative humidity for the first 18 days and about 70-75% for the last 3 days (hatching stage). ## Incubator Humidity - An image shows four eggs that represent different types of humidity. - **Egg 1:** Fresh egg before incubation. - Note the small air bubble. - **Egg 2:** Excess humidity. - **Egg 3:** Insufficient humidity. - **Egg 4:** Correct humidity. - The air bubble is the correct size, showing that the chick will pip above the dotted line. ## Humidity measurement devices - **It is also suggested that humidity increased calcium metabolism that could result in a stronger skeletal structure and favored growth** - **Digital Hygrometers:** Not normally accurate enough for incubators. - **Held Digital Hygrometers:** Direct reading digital instruments are better but may need re-calibrating regularly. - **Built-in Digital Hygrometers:** These direct reading digital hygrometers are now built into more sophisticated small incubators.. - **Wet Bulb Thermometers:** Wet bulb thermometers are a cheap and accurate method of measuring RH. ## Factors that control humidity level inside incubators - **Surface area of water (length and width of water tray).** - **Amount of fresh air drawn inside the incubator.** - The greater the surface area of water and less amount of fresh air, the higher the humidity levels inside the incubator will be. ## There are two guides to evaluate humidity correctly. - **Firstly, the air cell increases as the incubation proceeds (By candling of eggs).** - **The other indicator is weight loss. If you weigh eggs before setting and weigh them as incubation progresses, ideally, the egg needs to lose up to 12.6% of its weight between the time of laying and pipping.** ## Ventilation - **O2 (21%) and CO2 (0.05%) ** - **Ventilation is important in incubators and hatchers because fresh oxygenated air is needed for the respiration** - **Egg shells contain three to six thousand small holes, called "pores."** - **After the 4th or 5th day of development "allantois". The allantois becomes the primary respiratory organ of the developing embryo and remains such until just before pipping begins.** - **The transfer of respiratory function from the allantois to the lungs begins three or four days before pipping.** ## Egg Turning - An image shows an incubator with the label "*bestyls.en.alibaba.com*" that has eggs arranged in multiple vertical stacks. - The image demonstrates **egg turning**, an important process for ensuring proper chick development. - **Turning occurs as the eggs are rotated on trays within the incubator.** - This helps prevent the embryo from sticking to the shell and ensures proper development of the circulatory system. ## Hatchery estimates - **Fertility (F): is the percentage of fertile from all incubated eggs.** - **F%= (number of fertile/Total number of incubated eggs) * 100** - **Commercial Hatchability (H): is the percentage of hatched chicks from all number of incubated eggs.** - **CH%= (number of hatched chicks/Total number of incubated eggs) * 100** - **Scientific hatchability (SH): is the percentage of hatched chicks from only fertile eggs.** - **SH%= (number of hatched chicks/Total number of fertile eggs) * 100** ## Egg Candling - The image shows a person using a light to examine the eggs. - **Candling** is a technique used to evaluate the quality and development of the egg. - It's important for farmers to test fertile eggs. - Candling can help determine if an egg is fertile, infertile, cracked, or has other issues. ## Incubation Period - The table shows the incubation periods for different bird species: | Bird | Incubation Period | |-----------------|--------------------| | Chicken | 21 days | | Turkey | 28 days | | Pheasant | 21 to 24 days | | Goose | 28 to 32 days | | Pea fowl | 28 days | | Pea fowl (poultry)| 28 days | | Duck | 28 days | | Muscovy Duck | 35 to 37 days | | Ostrich | 42 days | | Pigeon | 18 days | | Japanese Quail | 17 days | | Guinea | 26 to 28 days | ## Thank You - The final slide shows a stick figure with the words "Thank You" and "No need to applaud" written in Arabic.