Cooling Periods Enhance Specific Pathogen Free (Spf) Poultry Egg Hatchability

Abstract

motor issue, due to a Abstract A central component of the poultry Aspergillosis vaccine research conducted at Cal Poly Pomona is the successful incubation and hatching of specific pathogen free (SPF) eggs. In an attempt to im prove the percentage of SPF poultry eggs that hatched during incu - bation (hatchability), a simulated natural nesting cooling period was implemented once daily in two of four incubation groups. 159 SPF chicken eggs were acquired by a commercial supplier. Two incuba tion groups (n = 80) were maintained at a constant temperature of 37.5 C. Two other incubation groups (n = 79) experienced a once daily 60 minute decrease in temperature (21.1°C), simulating the cooling an egg may experience when a hen leaves their nest. Eggs were incubated in a cabinet incubator within the BSL-2 facility and all other incubation parameters were controlled (humidity, temperature, turning interval, etc.). Candling to evaluate egg development oc curred after the 1st and before the 3rd week of incubation. Heart rate was evaluated non-invasively before the 3rd week of incubation. The incubation groups without a cooling period had a hatchability rate of 82.5% and 90%, while the hatchability of the two groups with the cooling period was 94.9% and 100% respectively. In the absence of other unknown factors, this evidence suggests that including a daily 60 minute cooling period during incubation increases SPF poultry egg hatchability rates.