IS1612 Care and Storage of Hatching Eggs

Care and Storage of Hatching Eggs

Successful hatching of chicks with artificial incubation equipment must begin with high quality hatching eggs. Success depends on proper production and handling of the hatching eggs. High quality eggs are essential for producing healthy, vigorous chicks. The following recommendations can help improve incubation success.

Selection of Hatching Eggs

Most producers set as many eggs as their breeders produce. If incubator space is a limiting factor, it is more profitable to select the better quality eggs for incubating.

Here are a few tips to follow when selecting hatching eggs:

Select eggs from breeders that are –
- Well developed, mature, and healthy;
- Compatible with their mates and produce a high percentage of fertile eggs;
- Fed a nutritionally-complete breeder diet;
- Genetically unrelated ( not brother, sister, mother, father, or such).
Avoid excessively large or small eggs. Large eggs hatch poorly, and small eggs produce small chicks. Double-yolk eggs do not hatch.
Eliminate cracked or thin-shell eggs. These eggs have difficulty retaining moisture needed for proper chick development. Chances of disease increase in cracked eggs.
Do not incubate eggs that are excessively misshapen.
Keep only clean eggs for hatching purposes.

Egg Care and Storage

Producers frequently underestimate the importance of proper care of the eggs before placement in the incubator. The embryo begins developing in the hen before the egg is completely formed. The embryo can be injured and hatchability reduced if the egg is not carefully handled and stored. Listed below are tips to help maintain hatching egg quality.

Provide plenty of properly designed and well located nests. Every four hens need a nest with manual egg collection systems, and every five hens need a nest when using automatic egg collection systems.
If you use nesting material, provide enough to prevent egg damage. Replace all nesting material that is moist or contaminated with manure.
Follow good nest management practices to lessen production of floor eggs.
Collect eggs at least three times daily. When daily high temperatures exceed 85 ¼F, increase egg collection to five times daily. Collect two or three times in the morning and one or two times in the afternoon.
Slightly soiled eggs can be used for hatching purposes, but dirty eggs should never be saved for incubation.
Do not wash dirty eggs or wipe eggs clean with a damp cloth. Moisture on the shell removes the egg's protective coating and helps pass disease through the shell.
Do not remove dirt and manure from shells with sandpaper blocks. Sanding shells removes the protective cuticle from egg shells, and rubbing forces disease through the shell pores. Enough shell material can also be removed to allow excessive moisture loss and reduce chick survival.
Store eggs in disinfected plastic egg flats with the small ends pointed downward. This helps maintain a stable air cell the chick needs when hatching.
Be careful when processing eggs to reduce shaking or jarring eggs. Severe shocks or insults to the eggs can reduce chick hatchability.
Avoid much handling of eggs with unwashed hands or hands coated with oils or lotions. Transferring body oils or hand lotions to egg shells can reduce chick quality.
Keep eggs in a cool-humid storage area. Ideal storage provides a 75 percent relative humidity environment. The storage room must be cool. Keeping the internal egg temperature below 65 ¼F stops embryonic development until placement in the incubator.
Change egg position periodically if you store eggs more than four to six days. Change the eggs' position daily until you put them in the incubator.
Hatchability is maintained reasonably well for seven days but declines rapidly afterward. Therefore, do not store eggs more than seven days before incubating. After three weeks of storage, hatchability drops to near zero. Plan ahead, and use a regular incubation schedule to avoid storage problems and reduced hatches.
Warm cool eggs slowly to room temperature before placing in the incubator. Abrupt warming from 55 to 100 ¼F. promotes moisture condensation on the egg shell that leads to microbial growth and reduced hatchability.
Periodically check the accuracy and function of monitoring instruments. An error in a thermometer or hygrometer can seriously affect the quality of hatching eggs. A thermometer with a split or gapped mercury column does not measure temperatures accurately and should be replaced.
Handle eggs with sanitized equipment, and store eggs only in coolers that are regularly cleaned and disinfected.

Sanitation

In large commercial incubators, eggs of different ages are incubated within a single unit for most of the incubation period. The eggs are transferred to a separate unit before hatching. Having eggs from many different flocks and continuous use of incubation facilities require increased emphasis on sanitation and disease control. The sanitation and microbial control measures that follow can improve the hatchability of eggs and quality of the chicks.

Thoroughly clean and disinfect all flats and egg handling equipment between uses.
Regularly clean and disinfect coolers and facilities, using acceptable sanitation procedures.
Select disinfectants carefully. Use the appropriate chemical that satisfies the needs of the environment. Do not use disinfectants that leave harmful or toxic residues in areas where eggs are stored or incubated.
In some instances, fumigation may be useful for sanitizing facilities that are difficult to disinfect. Handle the fumigation chemicals properly. The fumigation process can be hazardous to the producer or embryos if not conducted carefully.

Following these recommendations can help increase the hatch of high quality chicks. Contact the Mississippi State University Poultry Science Department for additional assistance on improving hatching egg and chick quality.

A Focus Program of the Mississippi State University Extension Service

By Tom W. Smith, Ph.D., Extension Poultry Specialist

Information Sheet 1612
Extension Service of Mississippi State University, cooperating with U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published in furtherance of Acts of Congress, May 8 and June 30, 1914. Ronald A. Brown, Director

(3M-11-00)

This document may be copied and distributed for nonprofit educational purposes provided that credit is given to the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

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