Mary Allen
Eggs are the key to the successful hatching of chicks. What are they like and what is the best way to prepare them?
The opinion often circulates that the eggs should be placed in the incubator while they are still warm, immediately after they are laid. It is not so. The egg can be stored in a cool place for up to ten days before the incubation process begins. The faster the egg has cooled to storage temperature, the better. For this reason and also because of the pollution, a quick collection is good. If soiling occurs frequently in a barn, the cause must be sought. Is she in the nest? If the eggs can roll away there, contamination is less likely. Other reasons can be a neglected dropping board or dirt in the chicken door area.
Dirty eggs are unsuitable for hatching, they have a low hatching rate. At the same time, they are a source of danger for diseases. If an egg is soiled, it can be cleaned with an extra sponge for chicken eggs. According to Anderson Brown’s Handbook on Artificial Breeding, this can also be done with sandpaper. Heavily soiled eggs can be bathed in lukewarm water, this will loosen the dirt and, thanks to the heat, will not penetrate the pores.
Before storage, the hatching eggs are sorted according to their composition. For each breed, minimum weight and shell color are described in the European standard for breed poultry. If an egg does not reach the weight or if it has a different color, it is not suitable for breeding. Circular or very pointed eggs should also not be used for incubation. It is also not advisable to use eggs with a highly porous shell or lime deposits, as they have a negative effect on hatching.
Separate Large and Small Eggs
After this first sorting, the eggs that are suitable for hatching are stored at around 12 to 13 degrees and at a relative humidity of 70 percent. The storage period should not exceed 10 days, because the air content in the egg increases with each passing day, and the food reservoir for the growing animal decreases. Chicks usually have difficulty hatching from hatching eggs that have been stored for too long.
Even during storage, the hatching eggs have to be turned regularly. A large egg carton, in which the hatching eggs are placed on their tip, is ideal for this. The box is underlaid with a wooden slat on one side and this is moved to the other side every day. This allows the eggs to be “turned” quickly. Before the eggs go into the incubator, they are warmed to room temperature overnight. It is best to put them together according to their size. Because if you incubate eggs of a large and a dwarf breed in the same incubator, the egg trays differ too much in terms of the roller spacing to be able to turn them correctly.