The storage of turkey hatching eggs

Abstract

During the storage period, changes in morphological and biochemical parameters occur in the egg. The composition of the microflora on the surface of the egg shell changes, while their hatchery traits decrease. The rate of “aging” of eggs depends on the quality of the shell, protein and yolk, on the shelf life, the level of contamination of the shell surface with microorganisms, temperature, humidity, gas composition of the environment, the position of the eggs in space, and so on. Many methods of preserving the quality of the hatchery egg and the viability of the embryo in it have been studied. However, not all storage techniques are suitable for each species of birds. So, the method of storage with a sharp pole up in a sealed package is optimal for eggs of meat chickens, and in turkeys, when stored in the sealed package, the hatchery traits are sharply reduced. At the same time, the storage of turkey hatching eggs with a sharp pole up allows to increase their hatchability by 0,78–1,63 % (a week of storage) or to neutralize the harmful effects of biochemical changes in the egg and to keep the hatchability of eggs at the level of 85,20 and 80,10 % (two and three weeks of storage). The use of sealed packaging for storing turkey hatching eggs without sufficient airing time leads to a decrease in the results of brooding, and with the increase in the shelf life, the negative effect increases and the hatchability of eggs decreases from 89,53–91,22 % (one week of storage) to 27,08–46,86 % (three weeks of storage). In any case, the shelf life of two and three weeks negatively affects the quality of daily poults, which is expressed in an increase in live weight by 0,05–0,90 and 0,30–1,21 %, as well as the decrease in the length of daily poults by 2,44–3,11 and 3,08–3,37 %, respectively.