Incubation Process of a Chicken

By:Erin Webb

Preparation Stage

Chick incubation process is 21 days Gather fertilized eggs 2 – 3 days in

advance Set up incubator to maintain

temperature of 99.5°F Add water for humidifying purposes Mark eggs

From Egg to Chick:Incubation Procedures

1. Obtaining and caring of eggs

Gather fertilized eggs from a farmer

Eggs should be stored at a temperature of around 50°F until incubation begins

Eggs should not be more than 5-7 days old

2. Preparing the incubator

Incubator should be out of direct sunlight in a room temperature of 70-75°F

Maintain incubator temperature of 99-103°F

For humidifying purposes, add water to bottom of incubator

3. Preparing the eggs for incubation

To ensure proper turning, mark all eggs on one side with an “x”, the other side with an “o”

Demonstrating the marking process

During incubation...

Turn eggs 2-3 times per day to prevent embryo from sticking to the shell membrane; until the 17th day

Candling the eggs:Allows you to see clearly the developing embryo stages and dispose of the infertile eggs and/or dead embryos

Examples of Bad Eggs

Examples of Good Eggs

Disposing of non-developing eggs

Embryonic Development Stages

                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                

Final Stages of Incubation

After the 17th day... Eggs should not be turned Incubator should not be opened unless

it is necessary to add water All chicks which are going to hatch

should be out of their shells by the 21st day

Reasons for Poor Hatches

Infertile eggs Eggs too old when set Parent stock weak, unhealthy, or fed a nutritionally

deficient diet Improper care of eggs prior to incubation Shell contamination Eggs not turned often enough Temperatures too high, too low, or too variable during

incubation Too little humidity in the incubator or occasionally too

much Improper ventilation Oxygen starvation

From start…

…to finish!

My Hatching Results

05101520253035404550

Total # Eggs ChicksHatched

Eggs that didnot develop

Chicks thatdied duringhatching