Signals from empty eggshells

Signals from empty eggshells

Examine the empty eggshells after hatching. This is a simple way to evaluate the incubation conditions. Inspect the height of pipping, the growth of its outer membrane/allantois, and check for the presence of urates and albumen residues. Assess empty eggshells and look for meconium (dark green first droppings from chicks) in the hatcher basket. This provides valuable information on the incubation process. When the incubation process is good, the empty egg shells are clean and dry with visible dried up blood vessels in the membrane.

LOOK-THINK-ACT

What is the problem here?

These eggs have an Aspergillus fungal infection in the air cell. This clearly changes the colour of the eggshell membranes to yellow. Check the biosecurity and take measures to prevent the fungal infection spreading further in the hatchery or incubator. Hatcher baskets are often completely flipped over when emptied (left). Make sure that rotten eggs detected during candling and transfer are copyright protected removed before tipping, otherwise they will break and infect the young chicks (right). Here, the chicks are separated from their waste products; the brush sweeps the last eggshell residue from the chicks.

Crush the empty eggshells

If you crush the empty eggshells, they should not immediately crumble in your fist into small pieces (like the crust of fresh crusty bread). They should feel a little bit leathery. The eggshell membranes must be slightly moist and still attached to shell. You see a substance in the eggshell that closely resembles latex. These chicks are fresh, and the quality is good.

Urates

During incubation, the embryo builds up energy reserves in the form of glycogen, stored in the muscle tissue, to be used during the hatching process. But at too high temperatures, the glycogen is exhaused, fat from the yolk is unavailable, so energy is used from the break down of body proteins. Urates are the waste products of this process. The use of tissue proteins is reflected in deformities such as a smaller heart. These chicks are damaged and therefore have a higher risk of mortality, e.g., through ascites (water belly). This is especially a problem when the house temperature is too low at the moment the day-old chicks arrive.

If the empty eggshells are brittle, it has taken too long for the chick to hatch and be pulled. The eggshell membranes are coming loose from the shell in some places. The eggshell looks dirty and it is covered with meconium. The chicks are dehydrated and the quality is lower.copyright protected

Urates in the empty eggshell (white strands) indicate overheating in the hatcher. This is caused by a stressrelated breakdown of protein.