Incubating eggs before storage can improve the hatch rate by 10 percent and increase profitability for chicken producers, says Gaylene Fasenko of the University of Alberta.
The poultry embryologist said eggs are routinely stored on the farm or in hatcheries for days before they are put into production.
She found that eggs stored for four days had a hatchability rate of 89 percent, compared to only 72 percent for those stored 14 days.
However, by incubating them for six hours before long-term storage, she increased the hatchability rate by 10 percent.
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For a large chicken producer putting almost one million eggs into incubation every week, a one percent increase in hatchability translates into $196,000 a year.
She said her study results also support the rule of thumb that eggs should not be stored for more than a week. Hatchability, chick quality and embryo mortality are usually not greatly affected until storage extends beyond seven days.
Her research has shown that certain stages of embryonic growth can withstand long-term storage better than others. Incubation can advance embryonic growth to the stage best suited for storage.
Chicken embryos react in several ways to long-term storage. Some lag behind in growth, others do not start growth as quickly. Generally they have a lower metabolism, take longer to hatch and produce poorer quality chicks.
“They’re not as healthy and thrifty when hatched,” Fasenko said.
Another study that Fasenko and undergraduate student Janet Montgomery conducted last year found higher heat production during incubation because of the faster-growing embryo’s higher metabolism.
The study compared shell and air cell temperatures of incubating eggs from modern and old broiler genetic strains.
Some of the modern strains of higher-yielding birds seem to produce more heat toward the end of the incubation, suggesting a higher metabolic rate.
The chick starts out at 45 grams and increases to 2,000 g by week six for a 44-fold increase. Turkeys have considerably slower growth rates.
Fasenko plans to continue to tweak humidity and temperature during incubation to increase hatchability rates. As well, she is monitoring the oxygen consumption of incubating eggs and its effect on hatchability.
“For every question we answer, we usually end up with four new ones we need to answer.”
