4.Egg handling and quality

Egg handling and quality

On a breeder farm, the parent stock (females and males) produce as many good quality, fertile hatching eggs as possible. Once an egg has been laid, there is nothing you can do to improve its quality - you can only make it worse - so monitor all the processes very closely to retain the quality you already have.

Embryonic development starts immediately after fertilisation in the hen, and only stops when the temperature has decreased sufficiently (to below physiological zero): • Embryonic development before laying. This depends on the genetically determined growth rate, body temperature and the time spent in the oviduct. • Embryonic development between oviposition and storage. This depends on embryonic growth and how quickly the egg cools, which in turn is influenced by the type of laying nest, ambient temperature and egg collection frequency. There are three important periods the hatching copyright protected eggs undergo before being set in the incubator: 1. The period in the hen’s body during egg formation (ovulation, fertilisation, egg formation): 0-24 hours. 2. The period in the house: (laying and egg collection): 24-32 hours. 3. The storage period (at the farm, during transport and at the hatchery): at least two days up to a maximum of 14 days.