As hatcheries get up and running, our vets and field services technicians can provide support that includes:
- Biosecurity and C&D protocols
- Hygiene audits (including environmental swabbing and water sampling)
- An egg breakout service if you have below average hatch rates
- Export health certificate visits if you’re exporting day old chicks
- Any visits to support avian influenza checks, as required
Any reference to temperatures stated below are guidance. Please refer to manufacturers for specific temperature guidance and routine egg temperature monitoring to formulate individual protocols.
Why should you consider doing routine egg breakouts?
During the hatching season there will always be some poor and better hatches and this is perfectly normal. However, routine egg breakouts can flag if there’s potentially an issue – and enable you to make changes before there is a serious problem.
Carrying out an egg breakout early on will create a baseline specific to your hatchery. For example, out of 100 eggs that did not hatch, 10% of those eggs could be due to bacterial contamination. If this number suddenly increases to 15 or 20% at the next breakout, this flags that it’s time to re-assess your egg hygiene (egg collections, egg washing etc).
If we don’t have a baseline for your hatchery early on, when there is an issue, we don’t know what’s ‘normal’ and therefore the source of the issue becomes more difficult to identify.
What we do
We will open a number of unhatched eggs and investigate the contents. From this we can determine:
- If the egg was fertile to begin with
- If fertile, when embryonic development stopped
- Whether there was bacterial contamination, damage to the shell or some other abnormality
Reasons eggs don’t hatch
There can be many causes that include:
- Parent stock health and management
- Egg storage
- Transport
- Incorrect temperature profiles
We find the reasons are fairly evenly split across these categories; however, infertility is the most common cause.
Below are some of the more common issues we see:
Egg storage
Egg storage prolongs incubation time, with each 1 day they are stored add an extra 1 hour to the incubation time. After 7 or 8 days, hatchability can become compromised and after 14 days the chick quality will be negatively affected.
Not storing you eggs correctly can lead to:
Reduced
- Hatchability
- Chick size
Increased
- Bacterial load
- Embryo death
- Chick mortality
- Uneven/ abnormal chicks
Eggs should be:
- Cooled gradually – around 6 hours
- Stored at 18-19 degrees c/64.4 – 66.2F at 75% humidity
- Pre-warmed gradually to 5 degrees c/41 degrees F below the temperature seeing of the incubator, before incubation
- If eggs are held longer than 7 days, lower temperatures are recommended (14-16 degrees C or 58-60 degrees F)
These are some of the problems you might encounter with egg storage and what you can do to overcome them:
| Potential problem | Investigation | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Cooling down too fast | Track temperature using data logging thermometer | Gradually cool over 6 hours |
| Incorrect Climate (not uniform) | Use temperature gun or thermal camera | Alter climate until uniform |
| Incorrect storage conditions (temperature fluctuations) | Multiple min & max thermometers in storeroom – read twice daily | Investigate and address causes |
| Sweating eggs (condensation) | Observe. This occurs when cold eggs are suddenly exposed to higher temperatures | Minimise the difference in temperature. Pre-warm stored eggs 6 hours prior to moving |
| Stored for too long | Record egg storage dates | Avoid storage over 8 days, if kept, turn daily |
| Insufficient hygiene | Take regular TVC swabs | Use DEFRA disinfectant between batches and maintain biosecurity |
| Egg damage | Record egg damage | Staff training, equipment management, check for hairline cracks before storage |
Egg washing
One common issue we see in hatcheries is the washing of all eggs regardless of whether they are clean or dirty. This can cause issues as it removes the outer protein layer of the eggs which protects the egg from bacteria entering.
If the washing solution is not replenished regularly then it can become a bacterial soup which seeds previously clean eggs with bacteria.
Ideally only visibly soiled eggs should be washed and the washing solution regularly refreshed.
For more information on our egg breakout service or advice on correctly storing your eggs call your local vet or us on 01392 872932.
