Chicken embryos and newborn chicks are extremely sensitive creatures, especially in regard to environmental temperatures. Low temperatures, including those resulting from spray vaccination, may have a dramatic effect on the birds’ feed intake an...

Hatching eggs represent a high value and are expected to deliver chickens. However not all eggs are fertile and not all fertile eggs allow the embryo to develop into a quality chick. What are the issues to look at when hatchability is to far bel...

In October last year a group of researchers gathered at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain to exchange knowledge on how to increase the use and consumption of eggs through the development of novel products.

Day-old chicks have been found to have confluent haemorrhages and erosions in the mucosal lining of their gizzard. Often affected birds did not recover and had to be culled. What is it and what can be done?

Healthy, vital day-old chicks are the basis of success for any hatchery operation. The success of each hatch can be actively manipulated while the embryo is still in the egg. Opportunities to control the hatchery's output can have significant im...

Giving the day-old chick a better start may have a tremendous effect on early mortality as well as health and feed efficiency during the whole growing period. That was the aim of an Israeli and an American researcher when looking for opportuniti...

Sanitation in the hatchery influences the hatchability of eggs and subsequent quality of the chicks hatched. By following basic sanitation and hygiene practices, even hatcheries with limited access to sanitation products and technology can signi...