Abstract
ABSTRACT This study investigated whether the effect of egg location during incubation on hatching results in broiler eggs. For this purpose, a total of 756 broiler eggs were incubated for 21 days. The eggs were divided near the door and near the fan, and distributed on top (216 eggs), 324 in the middle (324 eggs), and in the bottom (216 eggs) according to a completely randomized design (CRD). As a result of this study, no significant effect of egg location on incubation yield, hatchability, and embryonic mortalities was found (p>0.05). In some locations the eggs which were closer to the fan had generally higher hatchability (top fan 86.9%, middle fan 69.6%, and bottom fan 81.7%). The value of the incubation yield was among 67.3-85.2%. Embryonic mortalities were also analyzed according to the locations and were found as 0,00-2.57% for the early period, 0.00-1.00% for the middle period, 11.0-16.5% for the late period and 0.00-8.65% for pipped eggs. At different hatching times, the effect of the egg position on the hatching rate was found insignificant (p>0.05). The hatching rates support the result that temperatures measured in different locations of the machine were suitable for chick hatching. As a result, the effect of egg position in the machine was not statistically significant on the hatching results. However, the eggs closer to the fan had earlier hatching than the ones close to the door.
Highlights
The poultry sector has been growing for the last 50 years
Relative humidity and temperature records of different location in the incubation and hatching machine were given in Table 1 and Table 2
Hatchability of eggs ranged between 69.6% and 86.9% according to locations (p>0.05)
Summary
The poultry sector has been growing for the last 50 years. Both broilers and layers have reached nearly maximum production capacities. When all incubation conditions are optimum, healthy chicks hatch in approximately 21 days (Yalcin & Siegel, 2003). Variation in incubation conditions affects embryo development, hatchability, and chick quality (Willemsen et al, 2010). Incubation temperature affects the hatchling’s thermoregulatory ability, hormone levels, and post-hatching growth rate (Wilson, 1991; Decuypere, 1994). Incubation duration shortens when the temperature is too high and delays when it is too low. In both cases, hatchability and chick quality decrease.
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