Natural Hatching Of Chicken Eggs

The ideal way to incubate chicken eggs is to leave them under their mother, as the eggs need a large chicken to cover them completely and maintain their temperature. When the incubation period begins, the chicken makes a distinctive sound, stops laying eggs, scatters its feathers and wings, and the eggs are fertilized after about 4 days. from entering the rooster.

About 14 to 16 eggs are placed under the hen, and the hatching of the eggs depends on the size of the hen. This is to reduce embryo damage due to lack of heating.

The eggs are laid on a damp bed in dry areas; To help the hen maintain proper humidity between 60 and 80%, otherwise the hen needs water near her to spray the eggs using her beak to keep them moist, and the incubation period for chicken eggs ranges from 20 to 21 days for hatching to begin.

Factors that increase the success of hatching chicken eggs

Among the most important factors that increase the success of hatching chicken eggs are the following:

The brood hen must be examined to ensure that it is not infected with diseases and parasites.
Eggs should be kept at a temperature between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius, and stored for no more than 7 days.
Additional fertilized eggs should be inserted under the hen from another location at dusk.
The fertility of the eggs must be tested after 7 days, by shining a bright light on them. If the egg is completely transparent, then it is sterile, but if we notice a dark shape inside it, it will be the developing embryo, which means that the egg is fertilized.

Industrial hatching of chicken eggs

Many poultry breeders resort to artificial hatching using an incubator device to care for eggs, as it uses clean, well-formed eggs, and full-sized eggs, and it is mentioned that the chicks begin to emerge from the eggs after about 3 weeks, and here comes an explanation for that :

Equipping the egg incubator

The success of artificial hatching depends on the preparation of the egg incubator; This is done by keeping the eggs at a constant temperature of 99.5 degrees at all times, and maintaining the humidity inside the device at a rate between 40 and 50% during the first 18 days, and a humidity ranging between 65 and 75% in the last days before the eggs hatch.

Incubators need many precautionary measures for the success of the hatching process, which are as follows:

Adequate ventilation to ensure the entry of fresh air and the exit of carbon dioxide from the porous egg shells so that the fetus can breathe.
You need a circulator to maintain the balance of the ecosystem inside the eggs.
Users of industrial incubators must place the incubator in places that guarantee the least possible fluctuations in humidity and temperatures, and the best place for that is a home basement.

Collect fertilized eggs

Fertilized eggs are produced in the presence of a rooster, and to ensure the preservation of the viability of the eggs, it is preferable to ensure the stability of temperature and humidity when transporting them from one place to another, as it is possible to store the eggs in cartons if necessary, or transfer them directly to the incubator, as the hatching rates for eggs range between 75 and 90% .

The development of eggs is delayed for up to ten days when kept at temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees Celsius, and 75% humidity. Eggs must be stored in a way that ensures the survival of the embryo by directing the fatty side of the egg upwards.

Start the incubation process

The incubation process needs to turn on the source of heat and humidity before placing the eggs inside it at the required standard degrees, and close the door while making sure that the eggs are laid in the appropriate direction, while maintaining high humidity by placing water in the place designated for it in the incubator, as the eggs take an average of 21 days to hatch, as well The eggs should continue to be turned until day 18, and the eggs should be left for the last days before hatching.

hatching eggs

The eggs begin to move in the last days before hatching when the embryos become active, then the chick begins to pierce the egg shell with a small hole , and at this stage the chick rests for a period ranging from 6 to 12 hours before continuing to hatch; To adapt his lungs and catch his first breath, and leave the embryo in the heat of the incubator to dry after leaving the egg.