Storage of hatching eggs before laying in the incubator: technology, room requirements, terms
A reminder of the rules for storing hatching eggs before laying in the incubator is useful for beginners. A short cheat sheet takes into account all the features of egg selection and storage. Chickens bred at home are cheaper. The cost of the incubator quickly pays off. To achieve 100% hatchability, eggs must be properly collected and stored prior to incubation.
How to select eggs for incubation?
Absolutely he althy laying hens are transferred to a separate enclosure. Their eggs will be laid in an incubator. Mature hens aged 7-9 months to 2 years are suitable for breeding.Meat and meat-and-egg breeds from 8 or 9 months, egg breeds from 7, because the first breeds reach puberty later.
Selected females are provided with proper feeding, consisting only of natural products:
- main food grain;
- additives - crushed hay, cabbage, carrots.
If there are no vegetables, "Tetravit" is added to the grain porridge for chickens. It contains all the vitamins necessary for the life of a laying hen:
- A;
- F;
- E;
- D3
Additives that affect egg production (intensity) are excluded from the diet of female producers. Eggs are evaluated visually first.
Their weight should not exceed 65 g. Small specimens are also not suitable. Selection criteria for breeding material:
- clean, smooth shell without cracks, patterns, sagging;
- medium size and weight (55-65g);
- correct shape, the presence of a blunt and sharp tip, a smooth transition between them.
The main condition is that fertilized specimens with one yolk are needed. To do this, there should be 1 male in the chicken coop for every 8 females. The quality of the selected material is determined using an ovoscope. Good specimens are those that have:
- yolk in the center;
- The air chamber measures 2mm and is located at the blunt end right in the middle.
The length of daylight hours is not increased so as not to stimulate the laying hens. Eggs from heavily laying hens are not suitable for breeding. From seed material larger than average, a low percentage of hatchability. The chickens that come out of them are sick.
When to pick up eggs from the nest?
Raw materials for the incubator begin to be collected in March. They do this several times a day, observing a certain interval:
- after 2-3 hours in a warm room (summer);
- after 1 hour in a cold room (cold season).
With this approach, the number of serious shell defects, cracks, scratches is minimal. Chickens usually lay in the morning and in the morning.
If the nests are rarely inspected, the chicken stops laying, sits in the nest to hatch chicks.
Egg storage technology before incubation
Cardboard or plastic cells are taken for storage. The collected seed material is placed in them in one layer. Lay with the sharp end down. Hold with two fingers at the tips.The shell is most often not washed, not wiped. It is covered with a thin membrane (cuticle) that protects the fertilized embryo from infection.
Dirty specimens are rejected, on the blunt end of the quality ones the date of collection is put down. Do it with a simple pencil. When choosing a storage method, experienced poultry farmers prefer plastic cells. Cardboard absorbs moisture, causing mold to form on it.
A fungus that gets on the shell can harm the embryos.
Storage room requirements
The material selected for the incubator is stored in a special way. The room maintains a certain temperature and humidity. Under optimal conditions, seed aging slows down. To create the right microclimate, the warehouse is equipped with a reliable ventilation system.
Humidity
High humidity is maintained in the room, a psychrometer is purchased to control it.The normal range is 75-80%. The drier the air, the faster the egg ages, it has a rapid weight loss
| Moisture percentage | Weight loss (%) after 10 days storage |
| 80 | 0.7|
| 2.4 |
Temperature
2 thermometers are installed indoors, outdoor ones are taken. A large error in the readings indicates a malfunction of one of them. The optimum temperature for storing chicken eggs before laying in the incubator is 8-16 ° C. Embryos die if it falls below 5 °C.
Recommendations for storage temperature in relation to the shelf life are given in the table.
| Shelf life in days | Recommended air temperature|
| 14-16 °C | |
| 2 days - 11-13.5 °C | |
Shelf life
The longer the egg is stored, the less likely it is to hatch. The percentage dependence is shown in the table.
| Number of young animals (%) | |
| 90 | |
| 80 | |
| 70 | |
| 24 | |
| 15 |
Guaranteed
Under optimal conditions, eggs can be stored for 6 days without compromising the quality of future offspring. In fertilized specimens, the yolk and protein dry out daily. Liquid comes out of them. Reducing the volume of the nutrient medium negatively affects the development of the embryo.
The sooner the egg enters the incubator, the higher the percentage of hatchability.
Maximum shelf life
To obtain a large batch of chickens, the collection of the required number of eggs is delayed. Poultry farmers use certain methods that allow them to save the life of embryos, slow down the aging process:
- periodic seed heating;
- rotate eggs 45° every 3 hours when stored horizontally, from pointed to blunt when stored vertically.
Rotating the seed increases the percentage of chicks hatched, this allows you to add 2-3 days to the shelf life. When turned over, the yolk does not dry out, the protein strands holding it in the center do not come off. The maximum collection period for hatching eggs should not exceed 12 days.
Consequences of wrong conditions
The first mistake that novice poultry farmers make is the selection of low-quality seed material.Eggs of any size are laid in the incubator. About 38% of offspring bred from small specimens (weight less than 52 g) die. Chicks do not hatch from large eggs or appear, but with serious pathologies.
The second mistake is the lack of an ovoscope. By limiting control to visual inspection, the poultry farmer risks missing serious defects:
- small cracks and growths on the shell;
- deviation in air chamber size;
- shift of the yolk, its drying to the shell;
- do not notice blood clots, the presence of a second yolk.
The quality of incubation is affected by the correct selection of producers, their age and number. The fertilization of eggs depends on them. An important point is the storage conditions and its duration. With inappropriate temperature and humidity conditions and long-term storage of eggs, the percentage of hatchability is low, the chickens appear weakened, with developmental defects.
Sharp fluctuations in indoor air temperature adversely affect seed quality. Because of them, condensation forms on the shell. Moisture particles are a favorable environment for the development of pathogenic microorganisms. They can infect the embryo.
The rate of aging of eggs increases with a poor ventilation system, when the temperature and humidity in the room are regulated by opening windows or doors. Strong air movement (draft) accelerates the evaporation of moisture from the protein, egg yolk.
Bringing out your chickens is not easy. Buying an incubator is only part of a complex process. A lot of time will be spent on the selection of breeding hens and roosters, the collection of hatching eggs, and the creation of conditions for its storage. A brood of he althy chicks will make up for the time and effort spent.
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