Chicken egg incubator temperature range

To obtain young broiler chickens in an artificial way, farmers use special devices. There are certain rules, observing which, you can achieve a high percentage of the output of healthy and viable chicks. Humidity and normal temperature in the incubator for chicken eggs is of paramount importance.But before laying the initial product, it must be carefully selected and prepared.

Content
  1. Preparatory phase
  2. Egg cleaning before laying in the incubator
  3. Egg incubation temperature
  4. Incubation steps and recommended modes
  5. Table of incubation modes
  6. The first stage
  7. The second stage
  8. The third stage
  9. The fourth stage from the beginning squeak before hatching
  10. Equipment <

Температура в инкубаторе для куриных яиц

Temperature in the incubator for eggs

Breeding chickens by artificial means is an interesting process and not particularly complicated. It can be done both by farmers with many years of experience in growing poultry and by beginners. The main thing is to know all the intricacies of incubation and follow the recommendations of specialists.

Preparatory stage

Preparing eggs for laying is an important stage, which has its own characteristics. The first thing you need to pay attention to is the quality of the product and the time of its origin. So, the egg that the laying hen laid for the first time in his life or all subsequent ones that appeared between 8 o’clock in the evening and 8 o’clock in the morning should not be laid in an incubator.The probability that they have nuclei is very small.

In addition, deformed and cracked samples or those whose shells are heterogeneous are not suitable for incubation. It is best to choose medium-sized eggs: this way embryo development will occur evenly, and hatching will begin in almost all chicken eggs at the same time, the maximum difference is 24 hours (1 day).

It is desirable to lay the selected material in the incubator for 6 days . To keep the product safe until bookmarked, it cannot be kept in the refrigerator. To preserve the primordial qualities of the original product, you need to take a sheet of plywood or other dense material, cut round holes in it with a diameter of 4.5-5 cm and carefully place each egg in it with a blunt end down.

The air temperature in the room, where eggs are stored, depending on the time of overexposure, should be in the range of 10-18 ° C with a humidity of at least 65%. Additionally, the room should be equipped with a good ventilation system.

Cleaning the eggs before laying in the incubator

Immediately Before laying in the incubator, each egg must be cleaned of contaminants and disinfected with one of 2 methods:

  • For 20 minutes in pairs of formaldehyde. Composition: 30 ml – the main substance, 30 ml – water, 30 ml – potassium permanganate.
  • For 3 minutes with an aqueous chlorine-lime solution. Composition: 20 g of the main substance, 1 l of water.

If you need to process a lot of eggs, the first method is preferable.

Put the sterile product in the incubator should be very careful. You need to wash your hands well, put on medical latex gloves, take the egg by the sides with two fingers and transfer it to the container. You cannot take sharp and blunt ends, since you can damage the protective shell and the specimen will become worthless.

The incubators have special trays on which you need to place the eggs so that their sharp ends look down. If you accidentally put the source material on the wrong side, all its contents will begin to put pressure on the air chamber, and it will move, and if this happens, the embryo will not develop properly and die as a result.

Requirements for the air chamber of an ideal egg:

  • location at the blunt end,
  • maximum height – 2 mm.

Egg incubation temperature

In matters of hatching young animals artificially, the key factor is the optimal incubation temperature, which should be evenly distributed inside the incubator translational chamber. As a rule, this parameter should be considered paired with humidity. There is even a special wet thermometer, the readings of which differ significantly from a dry thermometer.

This is explained by the fact that simply by measuring the temperature of the air in the incubator it is impossible to accurately capture all the environmental characteristics.But a difficult life develops in eggs, so you need to carefully consider all the subtleties.

In addition to the main ones (humidity and temperature), there are equally important additional environmental parameters, such as uniformity of heating, ventilation and drafts. Only careful adjustment and constant monitoring of compliance with all these factors will result in the withdrawal of the highest quality chickens in a mass and timely manner.

Many household budget incubators are not able to evenly warm the air in all parts of the container, so there is a possibility that some eggs will develop embryos faster. To correct the wrong situation, you need to buy another device or periodically swap the eggs in the tray.

The processes that occur inside all eggs (chicken, duck, goose and even turkey) heat the shell to a certain temperature. It is on these data that the rules for setting the temperature in the incubator are based. To ensure that the artificial environment is as close as possible to natural, during incubation, the device settings must be changed every time after the development of the embryo moves to a qualitatively new level.

The dependence of the incubation parameters on its stages

Please note that this information will help to correctly adjust the settings in the incubator for chicken eggs only.If you plan to breed other birds at home, for example, ducks , it is better to look for information on how to do this in other articles and video sources. Since the terms and conditions for each species of birds must be set individually.

Stages of incubation and recommended modes

It is important to observe the temperature regime in the incubator, even when the egg is still waiting for its bookmark in the incubator . The result depends on proper storage.

While the temperature in the egg is lower than the physiological zero of the bird, no processes occur in it. That is why it should be slightly cool in the room where the eggs awaiting incubation are stored.

According to numerous studies by scientists, it is still unclear why the longer the eggs are stored, the less likely they are to produce offspring. But the fact remains. It is noted that the best hatchability is shown by specimens that were put in the incubator after 2 days from the moment the hen demolished them. But you can keep the egg in storage as much as you like, the main thing is to do the right temperature:

  • from 1 to 3 days – 18-20 ° C,
  • from 4 to 7 days – 15-18 ° С,
  • from 8 days and longer – 10-12 ° С.

Humidity indicators should vary in the range from 65 to 80%. Due to the long shelf life and parameters of the parent herd, the incubation properties of the product may be reduced.In this case, in order for the eggs to be well preserved, the humidity must be increased to 85-90%.

Before laying in the incubator, after the storage chamber, hold the egg for a while in the room where, t air jumps within 22- 25 ° C.

Incubation should take place in four stages:

  • 1 – from the 1st to the 7th day;
  • 2 – from the 8th to the 15th day;
  • 3 – from the 15th day to the first squeak;
  • 4 – from the 1st squeak to the bite.

Table of incubation regimes

The incubation regimen table is designed to help cope with chickens. This table contains all the recommended settings that you need to know for incubation at home, and also indicates how often you need to turn eggs during incubation. It is necessary to twist the source material without fail so that the embryo does not grow into the shell. Laying always does this in natural conditions.

Many modern appliances automatically turn eggs over, however if If there is only the simplest home-made incubator and this function is absent, you should be ready for 15 days, including at night, to take proper care of the eggs.

First stage

After laying in the incubator in the eggs, the processes that began even when they were in the chicken are resumed. As soon as the material becomes warmer than the established physiological zero, embryo development and cell division resumes. At the first stage, the formation of tissues takes place, which later turn into vital organs.

On the third day, the head and heart of the future chicken are already visible in the egg.At this time, the correct uniform ambient temperature is especially important, since the climate around the egg strongly affects the rate of cell development and oxygen delivery from the environment to the embryo.

These processes occur best when the eggshell is heated to 37, 7-38 ° С (it can be measured using an infrared thermometer). In the incubator, you need to set the temperature a little higher.

Second stage

These days, the internal organs of the embryo form inside the egg and it gains mass. Moreover, the rate of weight gain in embryos increases significantly, especially if the optimum temperature in the incubator for chickens is set. Here you can’t do without ovoscopy :

  • If it became noticeable that the embryos develop unnaturally quickly for representatives of the chicken family, it means that the temperature in the incubator has jumped very much, it’s enough just to reduce it, and everything will come to norm;
  • if, on the contrary, development is practically not carried out, you need to slightly increase the degree of heat in the settings.

At the second stage of incubation at home, the temperature of the surface of the eggshell should make up 37.5-37.7 ° С. A slight deviation from the norm is allowed. But under no circumstances should an egg shell be colder than 37 ° C and hotter than 38 ° C. Otherwise, the embryos will develop inharmoniously; many may even die from overheating or hypothermia.

Third stage

During this period, the maturity of the internal organs and the embryo as a whole begins. The percentage of solids increases, and the fluid in the tissues becomes smaller, and therefore the embryo is already able to feel the stress caused by the temperature regime with its internal organs. If the climate in the incubator is favorable, the chicken develops according to plan, if not, growth either accelerates or slows down. That the first, that the second option is undesirable.

It is necessary that the air temperature in recent days be slightly higher than at the previous stages of incubation. The critical boundaries that are dangerous for embryo maturation are below 38.1 ° C and above 38.8 ° C. Ideally, if the shell is heated to 38.5 ° C (plus or minus 0.2 ° C).

We must not forget that the process is accompanied by the active release of metabolic heat from chicken eggs (heat generated from the source material, due to the metabolism taking place inside). This must be taken into account when setting the settings.

From 16 days until the chicks hatch, so that the temperature in the incubator does not rise to a critical level, ventilation should be turned on for several hours every day. If the device does not have an overheating sensor, it is necessary to independently measure the surface of the shell every 2 hours and, if necessary, carry out ventilation by force, for some time opening the lid of the container with eggs.When the shell is blown with air, its temperature is regulated, so the probability of overheating becomes minimal.

The fourth stage from the beginning of the squeak to hatching

By this time, the chicks are almost ready for into the light, they can independently turn over inside the shell, so it makes no sense to twist the eggs in the incubator. Now the main thing is to provide a light bite in ideal conditions. The table shows what temperature is needed in the incubator, but the data given in it are approximate. During this period, one should not listen to the dry facts, but to the chickens themselves.

Not a single table will tell you better than small squeaking lumps, which can no longer wait to split the shell and see the big world around them that they are ready to be born. It is important to listen to chickens: if they feel good, their squeak is even, calm, they sing melodiously with happiness. If they freeze, hysteria and loud squeaks begin inside the incubator. If the incubator, on the contrary, is unnaturally quiet, it means the chicks are hot – it’s important to hurry to lower the air temperature before it is too late.

Before breaking through the shell, the chicks begin to spin inside and peck the walls around the perimeter, 3-4 powerful blows are enough to give up the fortress and split in half.

Equipment

Without special equipment it will be difficult to achieve good results from incubation at home.First of all, you need to purchase instruments that measure with increased accuracy. For example, to check the temperature of the eggshell, you need to use a hygrometer and an infrared thermometer, and without a reliable incubator it is difficult to derive a good percentage of healthy young animals.

If you are just starting to breed poultry, choosing an incubator is a very important procedure. There are household appliances for home use for several dozen eggs, equipped with a minimum set of necessary functions. There are technically sophisticated appliances, such as the Cinderella. They are also intended for non-industrial use, but have a huge number of settings: from a humidity control system, temperature control and automatic ventilation to an overheat protection system and a subcooling controller. There are some experienced poultry farmers who raise a strong and healthy livestock using home-made devices.

Before acquiring a particular incubator model, it is important to analyze your goals and planned scope, consult with people who have been successfully breeding for several years young growth. In any case, buying immediately expensive semi-industrial equipment does not make sense. You can start with a few dozen eggs and with a simple incubator to practice breeding chickens and understand what the relationship is between incubation parameters and embryo development.

Each device has an instruction for use, which indicates all its functionalities, designates an output circuit and spells out the optimal temperature for this.

Common causes of death in an incubator:

  • low or high temperature,
  • high or low humidity,
  • incorrect schedule of airing and upheavals.

It is extremely important to know how much degrees withstand eggs at each stage of its development and set an exclusively permitted indicator. The temperature of the incubation regimes will tell you exactly which temperature is acceptable.

If there is a financial opportunity, it’s better to overpay a bit, but buy an incubator that will automatically maintain temperature and humidity at a set level, ventilate the chamber and turn the eggs over. At the same time, it is important to consider that even fully automatic devices do not guarantee stable faultless operation. This is a technique, and it breaks periodically, so every day it is necessary to control the incubation process several times and, if necessary, take measures to eliminate defects in the device’s operation.

The main thing is to remember that high productivity depends on the conditions created by a person.

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

View all posts by Anna Evans →