HATCHING EGG COLLECTION & CARE
Dr.Deepak Prasad Sinha, Technical Manager, Venkys,Patna
• In slat or deep litter system, keep nest boxes at the rate of one hole for 4 to 5 hens at 18-20 weeks of age. Close the nest holes during night time, to discourage broodiness and soiling of nest material.
• Introduce males around 22 weeks of age at 8 cocks/ 100 hens or as per the recommendation of the principal breeder.
• Collect hatching eggs when they reach at least 48-50g weight or from 25 weeks of age whichever is later.
• Collect eggs at hourly interval during forenoon and once in 2 hours in the after-noon in deep litter and wire floor sheds. In cages collect eggs 2 or 3 times a day.
• Separate clean, soiled dirty, broken, misshapen and abnormal eggs soon after collection.
• Save clean eggs with sound shell, shape and size for hatching; without any cleaning.
• Dry clean soiled eggs with the help of a sand paper, dry cloth or cotton and also save them for hatching.
• Do not practices wet cleaning of eggs. Discard other eggs which can be sold for table purpose.
• Fumigate hatching eggs with formaldehyde gas at 3 X concentration and store in an egg store room, until 6 hours before setting.
• Do not store hatching eggs for more than a week. In case of cage system, netlon or rubber mat is placed over the cage floor to prevent hair cracks (checks) in hatching eggs. Otherwise, plastic coated steel mesh is used as cage bottom.
Hatchery operation and sanitation-—————-
• The eggs are set according to the demand or order for pullet chicks.
• Depending upon the size of the hatchery, the eggs are set 1 to 6 times a week. Set 250 eggs for every 100 pullet chicks required.
• The remaining hatching eggs may be either sold as hatching eggs for other needy hatcheries or sold for table purpose.
• The cockerel chicks produced may be either sold for specialized cockerel market or destroyed and recycled in feed as “male chick meal”, replacing fish meal.
• Discard weak female chicks also, weighing less than 32 grams.
• Unlike the old design, the modern hatcheries locate the tray cleaning room etc., atleast 30 m away from the main hatchery, on sanitation grounds.
