HOW IS HATCHING EGG SELECTION AFFECTING HATCHABILITY IN YOUR OPERATION?
In commercial poultry production it is everyone’s interest to ensure that hatching egg quality is the highest possible. Flock farmers, typically paid on the basis of chicks hatched from the eggs supplied, should aim to maximise hatchability by sending the best eggs to the hatchery. If hatcheries pay farmers for eggs supplied, then only good quality hatching eggs should be purchased. All this is common sense but problems arise when assumptions are made that the eggs supplied are the highest quality and hence will hatch well. How many flock farmers and hatchery managers are disappointed with variability in hatchability from set to set and perhaps place the blame on hatchery management? Perhaps the problem lies with the quality of eggs supplied in the first instance?
Downgrading of hatching eggs can be due to a variety of factors:
What if one egg per tray of 132 eggs (this equates to 0.76% of eggs set [0.67% of 150 eggs]) is poor quality and will not hatch (for whatever reason). If a flock farmer supplies 100,000 eggs per week then potentially 760 chicks are being lost per week which is over 25,000 birds over the life of the flock. What if 5-6 eggs per tray are not hatching eggs? After all that is only one egg in each of the above categories!
You probably believe that you do not have this problem but when did you last look? My work in English hatcheries during 1998, when eggs were candled after 7 days of incubation, showed that the incidence of upside down eggs and those with cracked shells both averaged between 1-3% of eggs on a tray, for some flocks it was very high (see below). Variability was between individual flocks and not between hatcheries.
Mean percentage of eggs (plus standard deviation; sample size = 10 trays) found set upside down or cracked, for post-peak and old Ross flocks (black and dark grey bars respectively) and Cobb flocks (white and light grey bars respectively) from four English hatcheries.
These factors depress hatchability and reduce income of the hatchery and flock farmers alike. Perhaps the time is right for a re-appraisal of hatching egg quality in commercial hatcheries?
PRACTICAL WORKSHOPS ON IMPROVING EGG QUALITY
In an attempt to ensure the highest possible quality of eggs set on to setter trays I am offering to hold training workshops for breeder flock farm managers and their staff. The workshop will aim to improve the understanding of those people responsible for supplying eggs for hatching with the intention of maximising quality of eggs leaving the farm.
Each workshop would cater for up to a maximum of 10 people and be held at the hatchery (or any other suitable location). Trays of eggs supplied by individual flock farms would be selected at random and assessed for egg quality. The quantity of any poor quality eggs would be recorded and downgraded eggs would be considered in terms of the cause of the problem and the potential fate of each egg within the hatchery system.
For example, long, thin eggs usually do not to hatch because they are prone to damage. They either get broken during loading or unloading of the setter tray on to a tray carrier, or they get cracked by automatic transfer systems.
The intention of the course is to provide the scientific basis for egg selection and notes will be provided as part of the course illustrating the major problems and giving details of the typical fate of each egg type.
The workshop will be directed at a maximum of flock farmers with the intention that they will be able to improve training of their staff. Additional on-farm training of staff on an individual farm basis is a possible extension of this training programme.
Each course would last for around 3-4 hours. A set of notes on incubation would be provided for each participant together with plastic laminated sheets showing examples of poor egg quality.
Improved quality of setting eggs will benefit both the hatchery and the flock farmer by minimising costs involved with setting and incubating eggs which will not hatch.
For further details please contact:
Dr Charles Deeming
HATCHERY CONSULTING & RESEARCH
Ph/Fx: +44-1491-835542
Email: charlie@deemingdc.freeserve.co.uk
Back to home page