Climate conditions during storage During storage, temperature is the critical parameter. Theoretically, the relative humidity should be between 75-80% to prevent the eggs from drying out. This is not always the case in practice, and the optimal relative humidity during storage is around 65%. This is because the storage temperature is not high. Normally, a hatching egg loses a little more than 0.1% of its weight each day during the storage period, depending on the storage temperature. This appears to be compensated for by a
slightly lower moisture loss during the incubation process. When humidifying the air, keep the spray nozzles of the humidifier clean so they distribute a fine mist instead of large droplets. Prevent lime deposits and algae/moulds blocking the nozzles. Large droplets will wet the eggs creating an ideal environment for the growth of moulds and bacteria. Water reservoirs can also encourage bacterial growth. Clean the storage container at least once a week.
co
py
rig
ht
pr ot
ec
te
d
Air cell The hatchery manager and quality assurance manager know from experience what the ideal air cell size should be when the eggs arrive at their hatchery. How much water evaporates from the egg is determined by the climatic conditions and the eggshell quality. The latter depends on the breed, nutrition, parent stock age and environmental conditions in the poultry houses. The size of the air cell is a good indicator of the right levels of relative humidity. Its size is determined by how long the egg is stored and the climate during storage (relative humidity and temperature). If the RH is below optimal, the air cell will be too large.
You can see a min-max. thermometer on the wall and a clipboard to note down the tempertaure fluctuations. There is also a separate min-max. thermometer for measurements in other places.
A humidifier in the storage room (yellow).
6. E gg t r a n sp o r t a n d s to rag e
The eggs may be delivered in different ways, but they are stored in the same room. Take this into account when setting the temperature, humidity and air distribution levels for the storage room climate.
85
