Influence of prestorage incubation on embryonic development, hatchability and chick quality

Inge Reijrink* Ron Meijerhof*, Bas Kemp‡, Lisette Graat#, and Henry van den Brand‡

*HatchTech Incubation Technology B.V., P.O. Box 256, 3900 AG Veenendaal, The Netherlands; ‡Adaptation Physiology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands; #Quantitative Veterinary Epidemiology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Egg storage beyond 7 d is associated with a delay in hatch time and a decline in hatchability and chick quality. Prestorage incubation is suggested as a method to reduce the negative effects of prolonged egg storage by altering the developmental stage of the embryo, but earlier research has shown that prestorage incubation can both be detrimental and beneficial for hatchability.

The reason for these ambiguous results is not clear and the effect of prestorage incubation on chick quality is not studied extensively. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in developmental stage of embryos during prestorage incubation and the effect of prestorage incubation on hatchability and chick quality. Download the entire article via the button below.