Effect of egg weight and egg weight loss on the hatchwindow

Conny Maatjens M.Sc.

The HatchTech Research department investigated whether egg weight or egg weight loss influence the hatchwindow when a HatchTech incubator design was used in which laminar airflow and high air velocity are important features.The hypothesis of the current experiment was that egg weight and egg weight loss influence the hatchwindow in such a way that when eggs would be selected on egg weight and/or egg weight loss, the hatchwindow would become smaller.

During the hatching process, not all eggs will hatch at the same moment. The time between the first and last chick that hatches is called the hatchwindow. Factors that might influence the hatchwindow are: 1) the variation in embryonic development before the start of incubation, 2) the variation in eggshell conductance, and 3) the variation in embryo temperatures. Download the entire article via the button below.