Critical Points to Consider at the Incubation Process Guaranteeing Quality Chicks. Eddy Van Lierde Aviagen Hatchery Development & Support

Critical Points to Consider at the Incubation Process Guaranteeing Quality Chicks. Eddy Van Lierde Aviagen Hatchery Development & Support

Essentials of Incubation For a fertile egg to produce a chick, it will need:- Heat and cooling to control temperature Correct water balance in both setter and hatcher Time Turning [Hygiene]

Heat and Cooling to Control Temperature The ovum is fertilised immediately after ovulation, before the albumen and shell are formed around it I takes approx 24 hours to turn an ovum (yolk) into an egg, embryonic development starts and continues until the egg is cooled after lay At lay, the embryo contains about 40,000 cells, already organised into the initial stages of development

For embryo development to start again, the egg will need to be supplied with warmth for about the first 9 days of incubation From day 10, the embryo starts to produce its own heat. As it grows bigger, and heat output increases, the incubator will need to remove any surplus heat Multi-stage incubators use this surplus to warm up less developed eggs Single stage incubators have to dispose of the surplus heat

Temperature C Relationship between incubator air, eggshell and internal egg temperatures. (French, 1997) Air Internal Surface 38.4 38.2 38.0 37.8 37.6 37.4 0 10 20 30 Day of Incubation

What is the ideal embryo (egg 95 shell) temperature? 90 85 80 75 Expt 1 Expt 2 70 65 60 Lourens et al 2005

Manage Air Temperature to Control Embryo (egg shell) Temperature The amount of heat produced by a batch of eggs will vary depending on egg size, egg age and fertility To hold late temperature at 100F, air temperature may need to be 1-3F lower than the egg shell temperature How can you measure and control egg shell temperature at 100F from 0-18 days incubation?

Shell Temperature (F) Shell Temperature (F) Shell Temperature (F) Single Stage Examples 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 103 102 101 100 99 98 103 97 102 101 100 99 98 97 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Day of Incubation x x x x x x x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Day of Incubation x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Day of Incubation Danger Risk Ideal Risk Delayed hatch Danger Risk Ideal Risk Delayed hatch Danger Risk Ideal Risk Delayed hatch Temperatures within ideal range: no adjustments required Temperatures from day 14 onwards too high: lower incubator temperature to bring day 14 18 temperatures into ideal range Temperatures from day 8-10 too low: increase incubator temperature to bring day 8-10 temperatures into ideal range

Shell Temperature (F) Shell Temperature (F) Shell Temperature (F) Multi Stage Examples 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Day of Incubation x x x x x x x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Day of Incubation x x x x x x x x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Day of Incubation Danger Risk Ideal Risk Delayed hatch Danger Risk Ideal Risk Delayed hatch Danger Risk Ideal Risk Delayed hatch Temperatures within ideal range: no adjustments required Temperatures at the start of incubation in low risk area and at the end of incubation within high risk areas: no adjustment Temperatures from day 16 onward in danger range: lower incubator temperature to bring day 16 onward temperatures into risk range

Calibration

Correct Egg Water Loss or moisture loss

Target weight loss is 12 %, measuring from the day of lay to 18 days of incubation

How can we control this? By controlling the Incubator Humidity Routine weighing of the eggs at set and transfer Aim for 10.5-12.5% from lay to Transfer (Typically loss /week of storage is 0.5%)

Normal size of air cell of hatching egg at 18 days of incubation Correct weight loss during incubation help egg create correct size of air space from which embryo can ventilate it s lungs

Chick Yield The weight of the chick at hatch as a percentage of the egg setting weight.

Chick Yield Target chick yield when the chicks are removed from the hatcher is 67-68% This will reflect weight loss to 18 days and weight loss in the hatcher The main factor affecting weight loss in the hatcher is time In order to achieve 1% higher chick yield, pull chicks 3 hours earlier

Factors affecting chick yield Incubation time Humidity Temperature Change time before any adjustment to humidity. If egg shell temperatures are correct, don t make any further changes

Time Hatch time and Hatch Window

Hatch Time How many hours will this batch of eggs need from set to hatch? How tight is the emergence curve of the chicks?

Planned incubation times in commercial hatcheries in 2007

Breed Differences in Hatch Time

Hatch Window Time taken from the first to the last chick to emerge Will be affected by egg size and variability, breeder age, egg age and age range within a set, incubator type Early hatching chicks will be dehydrated, potentially over-heated and have used more of their residual yolk Late hatching chicks will be tired, sleepy and slow to eat and drink

Monitor Hatch Time and Spread Check the hatchers 30 hours before take off is due there should be no more than 3 chicks out per tray (1-2%) Check the hatch debris at take off the egg shells should be clean and free on meconium

Cumulative percentage of chicks hatched Ideal Hatch Window 1% -30h Pull

Cumulative percentage of chicks hatched Ideal Hatch Window 30% 1-30h -20h Pull

Cumulative percentage of chicks hatched Ideal Hatch Window 90% 30 1-30h -20h -10h Pull

Egg Turning

When (what days) is turning needed What turning angle is most effective How often should eggs be turned

When is turning needed? Trials often done with VERY small numbers of eggs New (1957) 35 eggs/treatment Deeming (1989) 15 eggs/treatment More recent trials by Elibol and Brake (2004) used eggs from broiler PS, with 450-600 eggs per turning treatment in a structured design

Experiment One Divided the setter period into three phases 0-7 days 8-14 days 15-18 days Eggs from two breeder flocks, aged 29 weeks and 68 weeks Petersime 576 setters and hatchers in a commercial hatchery

0-7 days 8-14 days 15-18 days TTT Turned Turned Turned TTN Turned Turned Not Turned TNT Turned Not Turned Turned TNN Turned Not Turned Not Turned NTT Not Turned Turned Turned NTN Not Turned Turned Not Turned NNT Not Turned Not Turned Turned NNN Not Turned Not Turned Not Turned

When is turning important? 90 Period 1 0-7 days Period 2 8-14 days Period 3 15-18 days 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 TTT TTN TNN NNN 10 0 HOF EarlyD MidD LateD Malpo II

Conclusion Turning 0-7 days is the most important Eggs not turned in this period have Twice as many early dead Three to five times as many mid dead Four to five times as many late dead Half of the increase in late dead due to Malpo II Impact was more pronounced in a 68 week old flock than in a 29-week old flock

Experiment 2 Two trials, flocks at 33 or 35 weeks, trials performed several months apart Divided the first week of incubation into 4 x 2day periods 0-2 days 3-4 day 5-6 days 7-8 days Same setters and hatchers as before

Treatment 0-2 days 3-4 days 4-5 days 6-8 days TTTT Turned Turned Turned Turned TTTN Turned Turned Turned Not Turned TTNT Turned Turned Not Turned Turned TTNN Turned Turned Not Turned Not Turned TNTT Turned Not Turned Turned Turned TNNT Turned Not Turned Not Turned Turned TNTN Turned Not Turned Turned Not Turned TNNN Turned Not Turned Not Turned Not Turned NTTT Not Turned Turned Turned Turned NTTN Not Turned Turned Turned Not Turned NTNT Not Turned Turned Not Turned Turned NTNN Not Turned Turned Not Turned Not Turned NNTT Not Turned Not Turned Turned Turned NNTN Not Turned Not Turned Turned Not Turned NNNT Not Turned Not Turned Not Turned Turned NNNN Not Turned Not Turned Not Turned Not Turned

Results Average both trials 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 HOF EarlyD MidD LateD Malpo II TTTT TTTN TTNN TNNN NNNN

Impact of turning at different phases in the 1 st week HOF (%) 90 85 80 75 70 65-18% -8% -5% -3% Turned Not turned 60 0-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 days of incubation

Conclusion The biggest effect on hatch came from not turning 0-2 days This was the only period which gave more early dead embryos Also increased mortality at other stages, and Malpo II

What turning angle is most effective? Naturally incubated eggs lie on their sides, and are turned by the hen, both deliberately and as part of other movement Early (small) incubators also held eggs on their sides (some hobby machines still do) Large-scale commercial incubators hold eggs in trays, small end down, and tilt the trays Eggs set small end up do not hatch as well

Impact of Turning Angle on Hatchability Degree of Turning Angle (24 times/day) 35 40 45 86.17 88.02 87.74 Elibol and Brake (2006). Poultry Science, 85, 1433-1437

Impact of Turning Angle on Hatchability 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 HOF EarlyD LateD Pipped 720 eggs per treatment Eggs turned once per hour Eggs turned from 0-18 days 15 30 45 Cutchin Evans, 2009

Impact of Turning Angle on Malpositions and Residual Albumin 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Malpo III Malpo I Malpo II Residual Albumen 15 30 45

Conclusion Eggs turned with inadequate turning angle have More early dead More late dead and pipped Malposition III (head under left wing) Malposition I (Head between thighs) Malposition II (head in the small end of egg) Residual albumen

Best Practice for Turning Time: need to be turned from set to day 15 Angle - ideally 38-45 o from the vertical at each turn Frequency - eggs should be turned every hour Action-Smoothly and slowly 48

Incubation Targets Egg shell temperature throughout incubation should be between 100-101F Correct water balance during incubation, achieving 10.5-12.5% weight loss to 18 days and 67-68% yield at take off Chick emergence within a tight time band (1%-2% emergence 30 hours before take off) Chick take off at the correct time (minimal meconium stains) Turning angle between 38 and 45 degrees, eggs turned from day 1 to day 15

Conclusions What ever incubator make and type you have, the biological needs of the embryos do not change Fertile eggs need warmth, humidity, turning and time to hatch properly The How Tos show you how to check these essentials are being met in your incubators, so that you can improve your hatch and chick quality

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