Internal pipping

Internal pipping

The embryo’s oxygen uptake changes quickly around the time of hatching. The oxygen supply through the lungs increases, but the uptake through the umbilical cord reduces quickly. And the umbilical cord starts to dry up. The combined oxygen uptake increases by 50% on the last day.

If the air cell is in the wrong position, this is a sign of faulty turning, an incorrect turning angle, too high or too low incubation temperatures, incorrect RH, or jolts during handling or turning.

The moment of hatch was already determined fairly precisely when the eggs were set three weeks earlier. Broiler chicks begin hatching a little earlier than laying hen chicks (about 480 and 490 hours, respectively). Variations in egg size and the temperature in the incubator also play a role. On day 19, the chick begins to break through the air cell membrane with its beak (= internal pipping). Once the air cell is accessed, it should be clear whether the breathing is working properly. On the last day, the total oxygen consumption increases by 50%. Due to the O2 consumption from the air cell and the CO2 release, the chick becomes short of breath and this motivates it to peck a hole in A chick upside down in the egg. This is caused by incorrect egg orientation (point up) in the setter trays. the shell. copyright protected

Head between the legs is a sign of an excessive weight loss, or abnormal egg composition (yolk/albumen ratio, or vitamin deficiencies in parent stock feed).

Wings under the head indicate insufficient or uneven turning, or the wrong type of tray with too much space for small eggs. This mostly occurs with eggs that have been overheated. It takes more effort from the chick to hatch, and its head ends up on the wing. A large proportion of these chicks will fail to hatch.