Incubation of broiler eggs: to help the novice poultry farmer

Breeding broilers is an extremely profitable business. Birds grow quickly, gain weight and, with proper care and maintenance, provide very high profits. To a large extent, the success of the enterprise depends on the chosen cross, as well as on compliance with the subtleties of incubation. Today, one of the most popular is the COOB-500 hybrid. Provided the correct choice of eggs and strict adherence to the indicators of the broiler incubation table KOOB-500, the farmer is guaranteed to receive healthy chicks with high immunity. Such chickens will grow into strong, healthy individuals at minimal cost.

Some farmers are inclined to believe that incubation is too troublesome, so they prefer to purchase already hatched chicks at the age of 7-10 days. This approach, according to many experienced poultry farmers, is irrational. The reason is that chickens of this breed are extremely restless when relocating. As a result of transportation, chickens become very nervous, often get sick and even die. Therefore, if a farmer is interested in high survival rates of young animals, the best option is to organize an incubator on his farm. Our article is about all the intricacies of incubating KOOB-500 broilers at home.

What are the features of incubating broiler eggs before others?

When deciding to incubate broiler eggs, you must take into account that this process has a number of features:

• They are larger, so less of them fits into the incubator than from laying hens.
• Place them in the incubator horizontally or obliquely. Due to their large size, they require a high temperature in the first day, but later it is reduced.
• From day 7 you need to start ventilating the container, cooling it. The eggs of all broiler birds are incubated almost the same. In the last days before the bite, they have a huge heat loss, so the chickens can overheat. So you should refrigerate them 2 times a day for at least 30 minutes. While cooling of chickens of other breeds should last less: twice a day for 10 minutes.
• The incubation period lasts the same as for other breeds - 21 days.

Peculiarities

If you decide to incubate broiler eggs yourself, you should immediately take into account several important nuances:

• Broiler eggs are large in size, so the incubator can accommodate a significantly smaller number of them than from a laying hen;
• as a rule, they are laid out in the incubator in a horizontal position or slightly tilted to one side. In addition, in the first days of the incubation regime, the temperature inside this simple device should remain quite high;
• If at first the product needs to be warmed up, then later, namely after a week, it is recommended to ventilate the incubator daily. The thing is that when the moment of birth of the chicks approaches, a lot of heat comes from the eggs, and they can simply overheat. In this situation, ventilation of the incubator cannot be avoided. How many of these procedures will be needed? Airing twice a day for thirty minutes will be enough;
• As for the duration of the incubation period, it is 21 days.

How to choose broiler eggs for incubation?

Broiler eggs must meet special requirements, since not all of them can be used for incubation. You need to take eggs of the same shape and size. Chicks that are too small are not suitable for incubation as the chicks may be weak. And too large specimens often contain 2 yolks, so they will not be fertilized.

Before placing an egg in the incubator, you need to make sure that it is fertilized. To do this, you need to illuminate it with a light bulb. The fertilized material should have a clear dark dot in the center.

You cannot take pear-shaped, round or elongated eggs. The chicks will hatch, but they are unlikely to be healthy. The shell must be uniform, without thickening, growths, or cracks. The air chamber should be on the blunt side, not exceeding 1.5 cm. If its size is larger, the egg has been lying around for a long time, so it cannot be used for incubation.

The yolk should be located strictly in the center, or slightly deviate towards the air chamber. If it sticks to the shell, the egg is not used. If it is fresh, then when viewed through an ovoscope, the yolk should be slightly blurred around the edges. If it is too dark, the egg is rejected.

For bookmarking, select specimens of approximately the same shape and weight (50-60 grams). Each extra gram prolongs the hatching process by 30 minutes, so the weight of the eggs should not differ by more than 10 grams. Otherwise, the chicks will not hatch at the same time and will have to be kept separately.

Egg selection

The incubation period will be truly effective if each stage of preparation is carried out correctly.

The selection process for broiler eggs is very important. They must have the correct shape and color characteristic of the breed. Pay attention to the size of the eggs. If the product is very small, there is no point in selecting them for incubation.

However, the largest of them should not be used for shading. They can contain two yolks at the same time. The main factor that will influence your decision regarding the choice of broiler eggs is their fertilization. But how can you check this? You will need an ovoscope: you need to bring it next to the chicken product in good lighting. If it is truly fertilized, you will see a distinct dark spot in the center.

Before placing in the incubator

Storage takes place at 3 points: farm, transport and hatchery room. It is necessary that all these places have approximately the same conditions. Sudden changes in temperature and humidity should not be allowed. The temperature drop should be smooth, and in the same way the temperature should rise smoothly before being placed in the incubator. Therefore, at first the eggs are kept in the room for some time, and only after that they are sent to a container.

Eggs should not be stored for long, as this causes the following:

• The time allocated for incubation is extended. So, every day increases the incubation period by about an hour. It is advisable that all eggs have the same shelf life.
• Chick hatchability decreases. They need to be stored for at least 6 days, since after a week the hatchability decreases to 15%, then decreasing every day.

Table 1. The influence of storage time of broiler eggs on the hatchability of young animals

• The vital signs of chickens and their weight decrease. When eggs are stored in the hatchery for more than 14 days, water evaporates from them and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the protein increases. Therefore, the quality of future young animals deteriorates.

Before placing eggs in the incubator, they should be processed. To do this, they are washed in a solution of potassium permanganate, which serves as an excellent disinfectant. Warm water at a temperature of 30 degrees is poured into a container intended for washing. After this, potassium permanganate is added so that the solution gets a rich crimson color.

You need to carefully lower the eggs into the solution so that their contents do not shake. They should be kept in the liquid for 5 minutes. Clean specimens are spread onto a cloth and left until the water drains. After complete drying, they can be placed in the incubator.

Temperature and humidity

It is very important to ensure that eggs stored in the hatchery are kept at the correct temperature (there are special tables for detailed information). It must be stable, since sudden changes in temperature will negatively affect the developmental activity of the embryo.

When laying eggs, it is important to stick to the golden mean. It is not recommended to leave the incubator half empty, otherwise the eggs will heat unevenly. But don't overload it either if you don't want the temperature to rise.

Bookmark

Before laying, the eggs are transferred from storage to a room with a temperature of 25-27 degrees and kept here for about eight hours. This is necessary to ensure that the egg has the same temperature over its entire surface.

If the room ventilation is poor, the process may take longer. Therefore, it is recommended to ensure good air ingress. In addition, before laying, pre-incubation heating should be performed for 6-12 hours.

It is better to place broiler eggs for the incubator horizontally or at an angle of 45 degrees. There should be a small distance between them so that they do not overheat. The number of eggs depends on the incubator model; this number must be strictly observed.

Turning and spraying

Turning is necessary for the normal development of chicks. They should be carried out regularly several times a day, especially in the first week, so that the embryo does not stick to the subshell membranes.

From the second week, the number of turns can be reduced, but they cannot be stopped completely. They help remove excess heat from the surface of the eggs.

Spraying is carried out only if the humidity in the incubator is low. Only warm water is used to avoid hypothermia.

Temperature and humidity conditions in the incubator

For good hatchability of eggs, it is necessary to follow a certain regime. After buying eggs, you need to leave them in the room for several hours so that they come to room temperature.

Then they can be placed in an incubator, in which the temperature is set to 38 degrees. After a few hours it is lowered to 37.5 degrees, and it should remain constant until the 14th day of incubation. After two weeks it is reduced by 0.3 degrees.

The right temperature improves the embryo's metabolism, increasing the rate of its development. It should be constant, without sudden changes. It is necessary to fill the incubator completely, since due to partial filling the chamber will warm up unevenly. If it is overloaded, overheating may occur.

In the first week, the humidity should be 50-55%, then it is reduced to 45%. From 15 to 18 days it is increased to 50%, and just before biting - to 65%, so that it is easier for the chickens to break through the shell. The rate of moisture loss depends on the vapor conductivity of the shell. By day 18, the egg should lose approximately 12% of its moisture, which significantly improves hatchability.

Table 2. Temperature and humidity conditions for incubation of broiler eggs

Broiler farming

Lewis Carr US Feed Grains Council This material was developed as part of the Institutional Partnerships Project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project was supervised by the International Research and Exchange Council (IREX). FOR NON-COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION ONLY

The publication of these lectures is part of a two-year cooperation program between the US Feed Grains Council and the USDA, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented in cooperation with the US International Research and Exchange Council (IREX) within the framework of the Institutional Partnership Development Project with Russia and Ukraine.

CONTENTS Maintenance programs Lighting Working with hatching eggs Drinking systems Feeding system Ventilation system Incubation Feeding broilers

Lewis Carr: Broiler Production

In the United States, poultry meat is used to make various ready-to-use products, such as the McNugget, pieces of chicken, both white and dark, cooked in the deep fryer and served with mustard and various spices. ? Do white and dark meats differ in price? Yes, white is about $2 per pound, dark is $1.25. Prices are formed based on supply and demand. ? How is poultry processing waste disposed of? The deaths are used to make compost. Processing waste is used to produce meat flour, i.e. source of protein. Dead poultry must be processed immediately, as protein quality deteriorates over time.

Management Programs The hen to cockerel ratio is 10:1 in the parent flock. In the building for parents, on both sides of the aisle there are lattice elevations on which metal sockets are installed. The nests are located so that it is convenient to collect eggs manually, but on most modern parent farms, egg collection is automated using a conveyor. Both cup and nipple drinkers are used for drinking. The feed is distributed by a chain feed dispenser. Feeders for hens have partitions installed to prevent the cockerels from eating the food. Excessive feed consumption by bettas is not economically profitable. Feeders and drinkers should be installed at the optimal height to reduce feed loss. When producing breeding eggs, the main cost is feed. The feeders are located at the level of the cloacal tubercle, and the drinking bowls are at the level of the neck. To reduce wasteful food consumption, parents have their beaks trimmed. In broilers, beak trimming is not carried out, since the resulting result does not cover the costs. Beak trimming is done to prevent cannibalism and food loss. For cockerels, a separate feeding system is installed, which rises up at the end of feeding. Planting density is about 6-8 birds per square meter. m. Artificial insemination is used only in first-order reproductive systems. Birds mate on deep litter in the middle of the body. ? Is it practice to replant young cockerels during the life of one generation of parents? No. ? Doesn't the fertilizing ability of cockerels decrease with age? I don't know, we've never solved a problem like this. I know that cockerels and hens are at their peak at 40 weeks. An egg weighing about 52 g is considered good. In a young parent flock, the quality and size of eggs may vary. ? What can you advise if it is not possible to organize separate feeding of cockerels and hens? If we cannot separate the cockerels and hens, both of them receive a diet compiled for hens, since there are more of them than cockerels.

Lighting And now a little more about the lighting system in poultry houses for parents. The visible spectrum of light begins with violet and ends with red. We can regulate bird productivity by manipulating the color spectrum of light. The red-violet color scheme stimulates the sexual activity of the bird. Incandescent lamps have this spectrum. The human eye distinguishes more of the green part of the spectrum. If you look at the distribution of light from an incandescent lamp, you can see an almost linear increase in the spectrum. The orange-red part of the spectrum promotes faster puberty in birds. If we raise poultry for meat, the green-blue part of the spectrum is more suitable here. Depending on the purpose, incandescent lamps or fluorescent lamps or sodium lamps are used. ? What is the intensity for parents? Illumination should be about 32 lux at bird level; This is the minimum, the maximum may be higher (for parents). ? Can you give an approximate program for the light regime in the poultry house? The light mode depends on the type of room. There are buildings that are completely protected from light, and there are others with curtains on the windows. I will tell you more about the lighting program later. Lighting programs vary between broilers and parents. The type of lamps used affects the economics of production. If we switch from incandescent lamps to fluorescent lamps, we can reduce energy costs by 6 times. The illumination intensity of fluorescent lamps is not controlled by a rheostat. Right. The intensity of illumination with fluorescent lamps can be adjusted only by the distance between them, thereby achieving the desired light intensity for birds. Then the lighting in the housing will be uneven. Sometimes a combination of different types of lighting is used. Each company creates its own lighting system and programs. ? Do they perform artificial molting on the parents? No. Only hens that lay table eggs are subjected to molting. The hens of the parent flock are slaughtered at the end of the egg-laying period. The fertilization of a table egg does not matter.

Working with hatching eggs Eggs that are rolled out of the nests onto the conveyor must be clean. You see that the chickens' beaks are cut off. The conveyor is covered with a lid to prevent chicken droppings from getting on it. The design of the nests is different. The eggs are moved along a conveyor to a room where they are collected and processed. The eggs are placed on pallets, which are installed on racks, which are subsequently placed in the incubator. Before laying eggs for incubation, the trays are disinfected and the eggs themselves are fumigated. Before incubation, the eggs are kept in a cooling chamber for some time. Only clean eggs are laid for incubation. Eggs laid on litter are not suitable for incubation; they may be scored and bacteria develop on them. There are infections that are transmitted to eggs from laying hens. The mortality of broilers, feed conversion, achievement of slaughter weight and culling of poultry ready for processing depend on which eggs are laid by the parent hens. The cause of early mortality in broilers may be diseases transmitted through eggs.

Broiler watering systems Now about the watering front. If there is a groove drinking system, there should be 2.5 cm per head. These are recommendations for parent stock hens during the productive period. If there are nipple drinkers, there are 8-10 birds per 1 drinker. The advantage of a nipple drinker over a groove drinker is that it does not spill water onto the bedding when the bird is using it. This advantage is realized only if the drinkers are properly and timely maintained. There are also cup and bell-shaped drinkers. The latter may account for 70-80 heads each. Whatever watering system you use, it should be maintained in order. ? Do you use intermittent drinking? This can be done to save water and keep the litter dry. But this is not a common practice; as a rule, birds are given water ad libitum. With intermittent watering, the water supply should be connected with the distribution of feed, for example, supply water 30 minutes in advance. before feeding and remove 2 hours after. ? Is vaccination done through water? Yes. The water supply mode that you just talked about is exactly what is practiced when supplying the vaccine through water. When the vaccine is given in water, the water should not contain bleach. ? Which drinkers are more effective when using the vaccine in water? The vaccine can be given through any watering system. ? Do you use an aerosol vaccination method? Mainly in the incubator, but aerosol spraying of the vaccine is also used on adult birds. For example, in an incubator, one-day-old chickens are treated with an aerosol containing a vaccine against Newcastle disease. Marek's disease is also vaccinated in the incubator. ? Do you give vitamins in water? As a rule, no. ? Do you regulate the temperature of your drinking water? Birds drink water at the same temperature as it comes from an underground source. But I myself am now trying out the water cooling system. In winter the water is not heated. Typically, poultry houses use well water; water from the city water supply is unsuitable. Due to the fact that the temperature in the poultry house is 28-32 degrees C, the water passing through the pipes heats up. ? How many days are left after the final disinfection before planting day-old young animals? For broilers the health gap is at least 14 days. Broiler houses are not disinfected; they are only swept and washed. The use of disinfectants leads to an increase in cultivation costs and if there are no cases of disease, disinfection is practically not needed. If you use formaldehyde or any other chemical, the time between treatment and new bird placement will be determined by the toxicity of the compound. In the USA, broilers are raised only outdoors. The deep litter is not changed for one to two years. Manufacturers have come to the conclusion that the possibility of microorganisms developing in fresh sawdust is even greater than in old litter, in which a stable microflora has already formed.

Feeding systems In order to produce a chicken in the most economical way, it is not enough to have only good parents and good feed, all factors play a role here - premises, organization of rearing, light, heat, air conditions, etc. In this regard, I want to say a few words about feeders. If there is a chain feed dispenser, the feeding front is 15 cm/head. If food is supplied from tanks to feeders through a pipe, then there should be 12 birds per feeder. The temperature regime in the premises for raising broilers is important, because when the temperature drops, the birds begin to eat more feed. You need to decide whether to warm up the air in the room or give the bird more energy in the feed. If the bird is kept on the floor and has nests along the edges, then per 1 sq. m should account for 4.5 birds. If there are lattice elevations, then the planting density will be 5.4 birds/sq. m.

Ventilation system Ventilation must function so that each bird receives the required amount of oxygen. A bird needs three times more air per unit of weight than a human to meet its oxygen needs. Ventilation serves to remove excess moisture and regulate the temperature in the room. It has been discovered that maintaining a certain humidity level is not enough to control ammonia release. Air flow into the poultry house should occur at a speed of 750 cubic meters. ft/min (this is not at bird level). Before being placed in the incubator, hatching eggs are placed in a cooling chamber with a temperature of 18 degrees C and a relative humidity of 75%. If eggs are kept in conditions of high humidity, perspiration appears on them, which leads to a decrease in hatchability. From a hatchability point of view, pre-cooling chambers are of great importance. Eggs are fumigated both on the farm and in the incubator. Hydrogen peroxide and quaternary ammonium are used to create fog. The sooner the laid egg is placed in the incubator, the higher the hatchability. Previously, the question was asked about the possibility of introducing younger roosters into the flock. This is sometimes practiced when the flock is 40-45 weeks old, but there is a risk of introducing disease. Raising parent stock under contract is quite common practice. The farmer is paid by the number of eggs he hatches. In this case, he is not an independent manufacturer, he works for the company. Companies such as LOHMANN and ISA are breeding companies and they are not built on the principle of vertical integration. They sell day old breeder chicks.

Incubation The incubator has an area for receiving eggs, a cooling room, incubation and hatching cabinets, an area for processing hatched chicks, an area for cleaning and washing pallets, and an area for loading chickens onto transport. Each site must meet its own sanitary standards. The eggs at the farm are placed on pallets, which are placed on carts and the carts are placed on trucks. These eggs are treated with a hydrogen peroxide aerosol before shipment to suppress the development of microorganisms. Eggs that are cracked or soiled with droppings are not laid for incubation. Such eggs should be discarded in advance, since laying such eggs for incubation entails unproductive costs. The temperature of storage, transportation and maintenance of eggs is of great importance. Optimal t when transporting eggs over long distances is 18 degrees C and rel. humidity 75%, such conditions allow maintaining the viability of the embryo. While the eggs are in the incubator, they are turned over, which helps the embryo develop. If the conditions are met, the eggs hatch into healthy chickens. The main task in the incubator is to prevent the development of microorganisms, which can then enter the rearing farms and kill the chickens. To monitor the development of the embryo, eggs are broken and the contents are examined. 21 days after the chicks are placed in the incubator, chicks appear. It is desirable that the percentage of chicks hatched be as high as possible. The chickens in the incubator are sorted by hand, and bad chickens are destroyed. After hatching the chickens, the tray is freed from shells, washed and treated with a disinfectant solution. In a special room in the incubator, chickens are sorted and vaccinated against Marek's disease on a conveyor belt. All these operations are performed in one day. It is advisable to give newborn chicks food and water on the first day, although they can survive without both for three days. Chicks are also sorted by sex using the cloacal opening and wing feathers. Some companies guarantee 98% accuracy when sorting by gender. Sometimes outside specialists with extensive sorting experience are invited. Pallets hold 100 chicks. The most suitable temperature for transporting chickens is 18-24 degrees C. Temperatures outside these limits lead to stress. Hatch days in Maryland are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and new eggs are laid to fit within this schedule. On the same day when the chickens are removed from the incubator, sanitary treatment is carried out. Solid waste is removed with a vacuum cleaner, then everything is washed with water and detergent, after which it is disinfected. The effectiveness of all stages of sanitation measures during the incubation stage affects the economics of production. Racks with pallets are first washed with water from a hose and then passed through a washing machine. The round table on which chickens are vaccinated is also treated with a disinfectant solution. The equipment should not be treated with one disinfectant. solution without pre-washing. I would like to emphasize once again that the death of chickens at an early age depends on the quality of work in the incubator. When we say the cost per chick is 18 to 20 cents, we are assuming that part of that cost is due to incubation. The quality of chickens produced in the incubator affects many factors of broiler growth - safety, feed conversion, weight at slaughter. Compliance with all sanitary requirements in the incubator affects the final profit from raising broilers. ? Do they raise germ-free chickens in the US? Most vaccine companies raise these birds to produce vaccines, i.e. for biomedical purposes. Such poultry is not produced for industrial purposes. ? Is ozone used for disinfection? Ozone is not widely used as a disinfectant because it is corrosive. Ozone negatively affects human health. ? Are birds given tranquilizers before being sent long distances? No. It is important that the birds are not very cold or very hot during transportation. Then, upon arrival, give them water and food - the total period before giving water and food should not exceed 72 hours. After 72 hours the mortality rate increases. Before this period expires, the chicken receives nutrients from the residual yolk. ? What is the normal hatch rate for broilers? It all depends on the age of the parent stock, but on average it is above 80%. ? What is the average weight of a chick at birth? 45-50 ? How is vaccination against Newcastle disease carried out? Aerosol spray in the incubator.

Feeding broilers And now we’ll talk about rearing farms, where birds are brought from an incubator and raised to slaughter weight under appropriate conditions. It is necessary to create a microclimate that is comfortable for the bird. On the slide we see a farm with two buildings located on the same level. And here are two-tier buildings. The new poultry houses are designed for 30,000 birds. Maryland gets very hot in the summer, so buildings are cooled by passing air through curtains that drain water. Water evaporating cools the air in the room and saturates it with moisture. The hull windows are covered with curtains that can be raised and lowered using a winch. During the first days of raising broilers, the entire building is divided into three sections. This is done in order to save fuel or electricity needed to heat the room - while the chickens are small, they are not cramped in a small space. I have already said that at each stage of work you should think about saving resources. Now on the slide you see a poultry house with tunnel ventilation, and the fans themselves are located at the end of the building. The poultry house uses a water mist system for cooling in hot weather. Lighting is provided by fluorescent lamps. At the ends of the body there are large doors on both sides to speed up the release of the body from birds. Air is taken in through openings under the roof, and exhaust air is released by fans located at the end. This is a system for creating negative air pressure. To absorb ammonia, an absorbent is poured onto the litter; its use allows you to save on the use of fans. When chicks are raised under the brooder, the greatest amount of energy is consumed. After 2.5 weeks, the partition in the housing is removed, and the chickens scatter around the housing. When chicks are brought in from the incubator, they are shaken out of the tray directly into the feeder, this way they are less damaged. Place paper under the feeders, on which food is initially poured. Chicks should be provided with water and feed immediately upon arrival. At the very beginning of cultivation, the light intensity is higher. Feeders and drinkers can be raised higher using a winch. Now we see a flat brooder that is heated with liquid fuel. Poultry houses also use a system for creating positive air pressure, in which air is forced inside by fans and, if necessary, heated. The exhaust air exits through the curtains. Another type of brooder is radiant. It only produces local heating directly underneath. In winter, using such brooders can save energy. Note the float in the glass tube connected to the drinking system. It shows the pressure in the water supply system. When the chicks are still small, the pressure in the system should be low so that they can drink without problems - the float is at the bottom. The position of the float can be adjusted using the regulator located under the water conduit. The housing has an alarm system for temperature exceeding the permissible upper and lower values. In the first days of the chicks’ life, t should be above 30 degrees C. If condensation has formed on the ceiling of the housing, this means that the air is already saturated with moisture at a given temperature and cannot retain this moisture. In this case, ventilation should be improved. Based on the properties of the air, we can calculate the ventilation rate. Poultry house ceilings are insulated, the first 2.5 cm of which provide the greatest heat retention. The thickness of the insulating layer can be greater, but this does not provide a significant advantage. With poor insulation, heat loss occurs through the ceiling and walls of the housing. The ventilation process can be natural or mechanical. With natural ventilation, the prevailing direction of the winds should be taken into account, since the air itself moves inside the room. The ventilation system includes fans, control panels, and air intakes. Fans can create negative or positive pressure in the chassis. The configuration of the inlet ports determines the volume and speed of incoming air. Here, for example, is a fan located in the wall of the case. Air moves at 1440 ft/min. The farther from the fan, the lower the air speed. At the level of birds, the speed of air movement will be many times lower. Ventilation also serves to remove excess moisture from the deep litter and from the air. If the birds are raised in cages, then ventilation performs the same task - it dries the droppings and removes excess moisture from the air.

Incubation stages

Egg incubation occurs in several stages:

1. First week. At this time, the eggs are laid in trays. The incubator must be set to a certain temperature and humidity. The formation of the embryo begins.
2. 7-11 days. The temperature drops by about 1 degree. At this stage, all eggs are checked; if there are any bad ones, they are thrown away.
3. From 11 days until the first squeak, the temperature remains the same. It is especially important to monitor the humidity; it should be 45%. In high humidity, chicks may die.
4. Lasts until biting. Humidity is increased to 70%, and the temperature is increased by 1-2 degrees. This will make it easier for the chicks to hatch.

Stages of Broiler Incubation

Hatching from eggs depends on several factors. If the temperature is high, the shell cracks more easily, which is why it is increased. Large eggs take longer to incubate. Also, if they have been stored for a long time before incubation, the chicks will hatch later.

Preparation

The preparatory stage is very important for the entire incubation process. The first step is choosing which eggs to incubate. Eggs must be fresh, no more than 5-6 days old. The ideal option is 1-2 days. It is not advisable to use specimens stored for more than a week - the percentage of chicks hatching decreases, the incubation time increases, and the chicks may turn out to be weak and sick. When purchasing the starting material, check the storage conditions of the eggs to see if they have been subjected to temperature changes - sudden overheating or cooling harms the embryo.

Carefully inspect the eggs for external damage. Any cracks, growths or other irregularities on the shell are grounds for rejection. Try to select specimens that are identical in size and volume, sticking to the “golden mean” – a weight of approximately 55-60 g and medium dimensions. Eggs that are too small - there is a risk of producing non-viable or sickly offspring. Too large ones are often unfertilized (2 yolks).

Also pay attention to the shape of the eggs - it should be classic (an oval slightly narrowed at one end).

Any deviations (pear shape, elongation or excessive roundness, etc.) are unacceptable; this is the first sign of infertility.

The following procedure is optional, but highly desirable - checking the eggs for fertilization. Naturally, for this you will need special tools, for example, an ovoscopic lamp. You can assemble it yourself or purchase it in a store.

Let's look at the signs of a successfully fertilized egg (when illuminated with a lamp).

• The presence in the middle of the yolk of a clearly visible dark spot of small size (literally 2-3 mm).
• Uniform shell thickness.
• A small air chamber (about 1.5 cm in diameter) located closer to the blunt end of the egg is clearly visible. Blurry images and a different location indicate that the eggs are stale and, therefore, unsuitable for incubation.
• The yolk should be one and located in the center, or it should be slightly shifted to the blunt part of the egg, while its boundaries should be fuzzy and blurred.
• When trying to spin quickly, the movement of the yolk should be slow.
• Apart from the embryo, there should be no dark spots in the egg: blood clots, parasites, and so on.

Then you should carefully clean the surface of the shell from various contaminants - they clog the pores, thereby depriving the embryo of the flow of oxygen. To do this, you can use a strong solution of potassium permanganate at a temperature of 25-35 degrees. Carefully lower the eggs into a container with a solution of potassium permanganate and leave for 4-5 minutes. This treatment will also allow you to disinfect the eggs, in addition to cleaning them from dirt and debris. Of course, you can get by with just warm water for rinsing.

After this procedure, carefully place the eggs on a cloth (do not wipe) and let dry. They can then be loaded into the incubator. Broiler eggs should be laid horizontally or at an angle of up to 45 degrees. The choice of this position is determined by the size and weight of the eggs, because a vertical position will inevitably lead to the embryo sinking to the bottom and its subsequent deformation and sticking to the inner surface of the shell.

Typical beginner mistakes

Often beginners make mistakes in the process of breeding broiler chickens:

• Incorrect placement of the thermometer. If placed close to a vent, it will show a lower temperature. This means that the eggs may overheat. Because of this, chicks may hatch early, but they will be very weak.
• Different temperatures in different parts of the container. Therefore, once a day you need to change the eggs in places: from the center to the edges and vice versa.
• High or low humidity. It is necessary to follow it according to incubation periods.
• Underheating is a common cause of mortality among chickens. They come out later, their navel is not pulled in, their paws are thick, so they cannot stand up.

So, before you start incubating eggs, you need to learn all the intricacies of this process. After all, just one mistake can lead to a weak brood.

Tips for Beginners

If you want to try raising broiler chickens at home for the first time, here are some simple tips from experts.

• 2-3 days before adding the product to the device, do not forget to thoroughly rinse and disinfect the incubator. A bleach solution is often used for disinfection. After these procedures, the device must be rinsed and dried.
• After washing the incubator, be sure to set it up and check the operation of all systems. To do this, run it for 10-12 hours in operating mode and test it. If you find any problems, try to fix them yourself or invite a professional.
• The ideal option is to place the eggs in the incubator in the evening. In this case, the chicks begin to hatch in the morning of the 21st day, and by the evening almost all of them have recovered and can even eat. Evening laying has one more advantage: examinations of eggs using an ovoscope, carried out at the beginning of 7 and 18 days after the start of the incubation process, are more comfortable to carry out in the evening, without rushing anywhere.
• Do not place the eggs close to each other; the gap between them should be at least one and a half centimeters. A closer arrangement is fraught with overheating and death (developmental disorders) of the embryos.
• Carefully monitor the temperature and humidity conditions in the chick hatcher. Small short-term fluctuations, of course, may occur, but it is still advisable to avoid such deviations. Prolonged temperature violations are strictly prohibited. In this case, the location of the thermometer is very important - do not hang it next to the ventilation hole, in this case its readings will be underestimated. If there is uneven heat distribution in different parts of the device, just regularly swap the eggs: move them from the center to the edge, and vice versa.
• On days 19-20, install an additional container of water in the incubator to increase the humidity level and make it easier for the chicks to emerge.

To summarize, we can say: raising broilers at home in an incubator is a task quite suitable even for a beginner.