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Effect of Egg Weight and Position Relative To Incubator Fan On Broiler Hatchability and Chick Quality
Effect of Egg Weight and Position Relative To Incubator Fan On Broiler Hatchability and Chick Quality
Effect of Egg Weight and Position Relative To Incubator Fan On Broiler Hatchability and Chick Quality
*Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ankara, Ankara 06110, Turkey;
and †Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7608
ABSTRACT Two experiments, which included 3 incu- and percentage fertile hatchability decreased for eggs
bators, were carried out to investigate the effects of egg in the FAR position in experiment 1 only. A significant
weight and position relative to incubator (setter) fan on interaction of incubator position × egg weight group
embryonic mortality, second quality chicks, and fertile for late embryonic mortality, second quality chicks,
hatchability of broiler eggs. Three egg weight groups and fertile hatchability was found in experiment 1, but
termed small (~62.4 g), average (~65.4 g), and large only late embryonic mortality was so affected in experi-
(~68.9 g) were set in either the incubator trolley most ment 2. Experiment 2 was conducted so that eggshell
distant from the fan (FAR) or in the incubator trolley temperatures could be measured. Large eggs in the
nearest the fan (NEAR) as would be the case during FAR position at transfer time (E 18) exhibited signifi-
single-stage operation in this type of incubator. Fertile cantly higher eggshell temperatures than did the other
hatchability decreased in the large egg weight group groups probably because air velocity or air distribution
due to increased percentage late embryonic mortality in was modified in the FAR position of the incubator and
experiment 1, and both percentage early and late em- large eggs were most negatively influenced in the trol-
bryonic mortality in experiment 2. Percentage late em- ley in this position.
bryonic mortality and second quality chicks increased
Key words: egg weight, incubator position, hatchability, chick quality, broiler hatching egg
2008 Poultry Science 87:1913–1918
doi:10.3382/ps.2008-00014
INTRODUCTION (Lourens et al., 2005). When large and small eggs were
incubated under similar conditions, large eggs exhib-
Long-term genetic selection has resulted in an enor- ited higher temperatures during later incubation (Mei-
mous increase in the growth rate of broilers and evi- jerhof and van Beek, 1993; Meijerhof, 2002). French
dently embryonic metabolism as Hulet and Meijerhof (1994) found turkey hatchability to progressively de-
(2001) reported that heat production of eggs from crease with increasing egg size at high air temperature
modern broilers was substantially higher than that (38.5°C) but that large eggs exhibited improved hatch-
reported in 1960. Furthermore, previous studies have ability when incubated at a reduced air temperature
shown that large eggs did not hatch as well as small (36.5°C) during the second half of incubation mainly
eggs (Landauer, 1967; Ogunshile and Sparks, 1995; due to a decrease in late embryo mortality. Lourens et
French, 1997). Although there could be maternal ef- al. (2006) also observed that a higher heat production
fects and fertility could differ between large and small required a lower air temperature for large eggs from E
eggs, French (1997) found that as egg mass increased 15 onward, which suggested that embryonic growth in
thermal conductance did not increase proportionally, so large eggs increased at an increasing rate from E 15
larger eggs would be expected to have greater difficulty onward. Adjusting incubator temperature avoided the
losing embryonic metabolic heat as well as greater dif- adverse effects of high egg temperature during the last
ficulty gaining heat during the initiation of incubation week of incubation on embryo development (Lourens
et al., 2005).
©2008 Poultry Science Association Inc.
Measurement of air temperature around eggs within
Received January 9, 2008. incubators has shown that, depending on the design
Accepted May 19, 2008.
1
of the incubator, air temperatures can differ between
The use of trade names in this publication does not imply en-
dorsement of the products mentioned nor criticism of similar prod-
0.4 and 3.0°C from the setpoint temperature (Kaltofen,
ucts not mentioned. 1969; Mauldin and Buhr, 1995; French, 1997). French
2
Corresponding author: jbrake@ncsu.edu (2001) concluded from his review of previous work that
1913
1914 Elibol and Brake
there was a strong correlation between the estimated represented by 10 trays each (5 trays per incubator) for
total metabolic heat production of the eggs within the a total of 9,000 eggs.
incubator and the air temperature around the eggs. Experiment 2 was conducted as experiment 1 except
The total metabolic heat production of eggs was depen- that the eggs came from a second multihouse flock at 58
dent on the stage of embryo development, size of the wk of age and mean egg weight was 62.4 ± 0.16, 65.3 ±
eggs, and fertility of the eggs (number of live embryos) 0.14, and 68.8 ± 0.18 g for the small, average, and large
so that when either egg mass or fertility was increased groups, respectively. In experiment 2, only one setter
during the latter stage of incubation so did the air tem- was used and there were a total of 30 trays, thus, each
perature within the incubator (French, 2002). egg weight-position combination was represented by 5
The effectiveness of heat transfer from eggs to the replicate trays each for a total of 4,500 eggs. Eggshell
surrounding incubator air and uniformity of egg tem- temperature was measured at E 18 of experiment 2
perature has been demonstrated to be mainly deter- from 10 fertile eggs in each egg weight-position combi-
mined by the rate of air flow over the eggs as well as nation group in the middle of both the NEAR and FAR
difference between egg and air temperatures (Sother- dollies using an infrared ear thermometer (Braun Ear
land et al., 1987; Owen, 1991; French, 1997). French Thermometer Type 6013, The Gillette Company, Bos-
(2001) found variations of up to 1.2°C within an incu- ton, MA) by placing the sensor tip of the instrument,
bator and that reducing this air temperature variation previously allowed to equilibrate with incubator tem-
required a uniform air flow throughout the incubator. perature for 15 min, in direct contact with the equator
Preliminary observations of distinct differences in of the egg (Leksrisompong et al., 2007). The middle dol-
fertile hatchability and chick quality between eggs lies, which were full of eggs, were removed from the in-
placed in trolleys that were positioned close to and cubators immediately before the eggshell temperature
most distant from the incubator fan in a commercial measurements to make access to the eggs possible. The
hatchery created an interest in characterization of the eggs in the FAR trolley were measured first.
details of this practical problem. The most obvious fac- The machines used were a Petersime Model 576 set-
tor to examine in detail was egg weight (size). There- ter and a Model 192 hatcher. The setter air tempera-
fore, the present study was conducted to evaluate effect ture set points were 37.4 ± 0.2°C dry bulb and 28.9 ±
of egg weight and position (location) within an incuba- 0.2°C wet bulb. The hatcher air temperature set points
tor (setter) during incubation on embryonic mortality, were 37.2 ± 0.2°C dry bulb and 30 ± 0.2°C wet bulb. In-
second quality chicks, and apparent hatchability of fer- cubators were monitored remotely by computer 6 times
tile broiler eggs. daily for proper operation. All experimental groups
were placed in a single hatcher at the time of trans-
MATERIALS AND METHODS fer on E 18 in both experiments, but relative positions
within the machines were maintained. The general air
Broiler hatching eggs were produced from 2 multi- flow and temperature patterns of this type of machine
house commercial flocks of Ross 308 feather-sexable have been described (Van Brecht et al., 2003).
strain females mated to Ross 344 males. Males and fe- At the time of removing the chicks from the hatch-
males had been grown sex-separate in light-controlled ers, all unhatched eggs were opened and examined
facilities on an 8-h photoperiod and photostimulated at macroscopically by a single experienced individual to
21 wk of age. The feeding and BW programs were as determine percentage fertility and percentage embry-
generally described by Ross (1998). Experimental eggs onic mortality [early (E 0 to 6), middle (E 7 to 17), late
were collected 4 times daily and stored for 2 d at 18°C (E 18 to 21 plus pipped)]. Determination of fertility at
and 75% RH before setting. All remaining space in the hatching has a small margin of error, which determi-
incubator was filled with eggs from the same flock that nation at any other time will also experience, but such
had been stored from 2 to 5 d before setting. small errors should be randomly distributed and not
In experiment 1, hatching eggs were obtained from significantly affect the current results, based upon the
a flock at 51 wk of age. A large number of eggs were experience of the authors. Percentage fertile hatchabil-
weighed individually and divided into 3 egg weight ity was calculated as the number of first quality chicks
groups termed small, average, and large. Mean egg hatched per 100 fertile eggs set. Percentage second
weights were 62.5 ± 0.12, 65.6 ± 0.13, and 69.0 ± 0.17 quality chicks was calculated as the number that were
g for the 3 groups, respectively. Each egg weight group not able to stand properly or chicks that showed visible
was randomly divided into 2 groups that were set in signs of poor incubation conditions, such as improper-
either the wheeled incubator trolley most distant from ly healed navels, per 100 fertile eggs. Eggs that were
the fan (FAR) or in the trolley nearest the fan (NEAR) cracked were excluded from the analysis. The inci-
as would be the case for single-stage operation (Figure dence of contaminated eggs was less than 1% (data not
1). In experiment 1, two setters were used as machine shown). The results were analyzed by ANOVA with the
replicates. An incubation tray of 150 eggs constituted GLM procedure of SAS (SAS Institute Inc., 1990). The
an experimental replicate. There were a total of 60 data of experiment 1 were initially analyzed as a 2 × 3
trays and all egg weight-position combinations were factorial with incubator as a block whereas egg weight
EGG WEIGHT AND INCUBATOR POSITION 1915
Figure 1. Design of the experiment showing the NEAR and FAR trolley relative to fan position and air flow. Within the trolley at each posi-
tion, eggs were placed in the 3 egg weight groups (large, average, and small) to complete a 2 × 3 design.
group and incubator trolley position were the main by egg weight and position relative to incubator fan
effects in a randomized complete block design. There in experiment 2 are shown in Table 2. Fertility aver-
were no effects found due to incubator, so the data from aged 80.6% in this older flock but did not differ due to
the 2 incubators were combined and data of both exper- treatment (data not shown). Fertile hatchability was
iments 1 and 2 were analyzed as a completely random- decreased significantly in the large egg weight group
ized 2 × 3 factorial with egg weight group and incuba- due to increased percentage early and late embryonic
tor position as the main effects. Between-tray variation mortality. Fertile hatchability was only affected nu-
(residual) was the source of the error term. merically by incubator position in experiment 2. There
was also a significant interaction of incubator position
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION × egg weight for percentage late dead as in experiment
1. It was thought that the higher early deads in the
Fertile hatchability, percentage second quality large egg weight group was due to a slower initial rise
chicks, and percentage embryonic mortality as affected in egg temperature (Lourens et al., 2005).
by egg weight and position relative to incubator fan in Hatchability of fertile eggs decreased with increas-
experiment 1 are shown in Table 1. Fertility averaged ing egg weight as percentage late embryonic mortal-
94.1% and did not differ due to treatment (data not ity increased, as expected within a single batch of eggs
shown). Fertile hatchability decreased in the large egg from one maternal source, in both experiments (Tables
weight group primarily due to an increased percentage 1 and 2). This result was consistent with previous re-
late dead. Further, percentage late dead decreased as ports (Landauer, 1967; Ogunshile and Sparks, 1995;
egg weight decreased across all 3 egg weight classes. French, 1997). An explanation for increased late em-
Fertile hatchability was higher from the eggs in the bryonic mortality due to increasing egg size was that
NEAR position as compared with the FAR position larger eggs would be expected to have greater difficulty
largely due to significantly lower percentage late em- initially achieving adequate embryonic temperature
bryonic mortality and percentage second quality chicks. and then losing embryonic metabolic heat during later
There were significant interactions of egg weight group incubation (Lourens et al., 2005). The higher heat pro-
× position for percentage fertile hatchability, percent- duction and increased difficulty of heat dissipation in
age second quality chicks, and percentage late dead large eggs has been found to result in higher embryo
embryos. temperatures in large eggs (Meijerhof and van Beek,
Fertile hatchability, percentage second quality 1993; Meijerhof, 2002). A 70-g egg has a 27% larger
chicks, and percentage embryonic mortality as affected embryo but 8% less surface area for gaseous exchange
1916 Elibol and Brake
Table 1. The effect of egg weight and position relative to incubator fan on fertile hatchability of first quality chicks, second quality chicks, and
embryonic mortality in experiment 1
(%)
Fertile hatchability2 NEAR 91.00 ± 1.033 88.90 ± 1.033 90.56 ± 1.033 90.15 ± 0.60a
FAR 81.69 ± 1.033 87.68 ± 1.033 88.31 ± 1.033 85.89 ± 0.60b
Mean 86.34 ± 0.73b 88.29 ± 0.73a 89.44 ± 0.73a
Second quality chicks2 NEAR 1.15 ± 0.533 1.91 ± 0.533 1.55 ± 0.533 1.53 ± 0.29b
FAR 4.58 ± 0.533 2.36 ± 0.533 2.51 ± 0.533 3.15 ± 0.29a
Mean 2.86 ± 0.36 2.13 ± 0.36 2.03 ± 0.36
Early dead NEAR 3.93 ± 0.54 4.24 ± 0.54 4.52 ± 0.54 4.23 ± 0.31
FAR 5.37 ± 0.54 5.10 ± 0.54 4.35 ± 0.54 4.94 ± 0.31
Mean 4.65 ± 0.38 4.67 ± 0.38 4.43 ± 0.38
Mid dead NEAR 0.22 ± 0.15 0.14 ± 0.15 0.49 ± 0.15 0.28 ± 0.08
FAR 0.57 ± 0.15 0.43 ± 0.15 0.28 ± 0.15 0.43 ± 0.08
Mean 0.40 ± 0.10 0.29 ± 0.10 0.38 ± 0.10
Late dead NEAR 3.00 ± 0.523 3.96 ± 0.523 2.25 ± 0.523 3.07 ± 0.30b
FAR 6.87 ± 0.523 3.79 ± 0.523 3.57 ± 0.523 4.74 ± 0.30a
Mean 4.94 ± 0.37a 3.87 ± 0.37b 2.91 ± 0.37c
a,b
Main effect means ± SE for egg weight and position effects that possess different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05). There were 10
replicate trays of 150 eggs each used for each interaction mean divided equally among 2 similar incubators.
1
Mean egg weights from 51-wk-old flock were 62.5, 65.6, and 69.0 g for the small, average, and large groups, respectively.
2
Calculated based upon the number of first quality or second quality chicks hatched per 100 fertile eggs set.
3
There was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) interaction of egg weight and position effects as shown by the respective interaction means.
relative to a 55-g egg (Peebles and Brake, 1987) and sistency of these particular incubators (Van Brecht et
evidently for heat gain or dissipation as well because al., 2003), the significantly higher late dead embryos
thermal conductance does not change proportionally to found in experiment 1, and the effects of increased fer-
egg mass (French, 1997). tility on egg temperature (French, 2002), it would be
The eggshell temperature data of experiment 2 in highly probable that the effects on egg temperature
Table 3 suggested an interaction between increasing with respect to position and egg weight also occurred
egg weight and incubator location with respect to in- in experiment 1. Difference in air velocity was a prob-
creasing egg temperature at E 18. This would some- able explanation because it has been found to play an
what explain the position × egg weight interaction for important role in heat transfer from eggs to their en-
percentage late deads in experiment 2. Given the con- vironment. With greater air velocity, more heat will
Table 2. The effect of egg weight and position relative to incubator fan on fertile hatchability of first quality chicks, second quality chicks, and
embryonic mortality in experiment 2
(%)
Fertile hatchability2 NEAR 81.73 ± 1.45 86.06 ± 1.45 87.09 ± 1.45 84.96 ± 0.84
FAR 78.82 ± 1.45 84.54 ± 1.45 86.43 ± 1.45 83.26 ± 0.84
Mean 80.27 ± 1.02b 85.30 ± 1.02a 86.76 ± 1.02a
Second quality chicks2 NEAR 1.04 ± 0.32 0.51 ± 0.32 0.94 ± 0.32 0.83 ± 0.18
FAR 1.50 ± 0.32 0.99 ± 0.32 0.80 ± 0.32 1.10 ± 0.18
Mean 1.27 ± 0.22 0.75 ± 0.22 0.87 ± 0.22
Early dead NEAR 9.54 ± 1.00 6.70 ± 1.00 5.81 ± 1.00 7.35 ± 0.57
FAR 10.41 ± 1.00 7.32 ± 1.00 7.66 ± 1.00 8.46 ± 0.57
Mean 9.98 ± 0.70a 7.01 ± 0.70b 6.74 ± 0.70b
Mid dead NEAR 1.26 ± 0.21 0.99 ± 0.21 0.32 ± 0.21 0.86 ± 0.12
FAR 0.83 ± 0.21 0.17 ± 0.21 0.78 ± 0.21 0.59 ± 0.12
Mean 1.05 ± 0.15 0.58 ± 0.15 0.55 ± 0.15
Late dead NEAR 5.93 ± 0.753 5.21 ± 0.753 4.88 ± 0.753 5.34 ± 0.43
FAR 8.10 ± 0.753 5.98 ± 0.753 3.21 ± 0.753 5.76 ± 0.43
Mean 7.01 ± 0.52a 5.59 ± 0.52b 4.05 ± 0.52b
a,b
Main effect means ± SE for egg weight and position effects that possess different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05). There were 5
replicate trays of 150 eggs each used for each interaction mean set in a single incubator.
1
Mean egg weights from 58-wk-old flock were 62.4, 65.3, and 68.8 g for the small, average, and large groups, respectively.
2
Calculated based upon the number of first quality or second quality chicks hatched per 100 fertile eggs set.
3
There was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) interaction of egg weight and position effects as shown by the respective interaction means.
EGG WEIGHT AND INCUBATOR POSITION 1917
Table 3. Effect of egg weight and egg position relative to incubator sulted with larger old flock eggs but not smaller young
fan on eggshell temperature at transfer (°C) on E 18 in experiment
21
flock eggs in such an experiment (Elibol and Türkoğlu,
2001), suggesting a discrete egg size threshold, consis-
Position relative to fan tent with the present and previous reports.
Egg weight NEAR FAR
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SAS Institute Inc. 1990. SAS User’s Guide: Statistics. Ver- gradients of air speed and air temperature in an incuba-
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