Abstract

Eggs weight loss during storage has been documented well due to water loss. The single stage incubators are designed to use egg water loss as humidity source during incubation. In this experiment one week old eggs (n=430840) were collected in Salman hatchery, Pakistan and divided into two groups, group A was (eggs n=215420) immediately shifted to incubators before 10 hours of incubation to avoid further weight loss) and eggs from group B (n=215420) was stored in eggs room at 23.80 C and 65% humidity with 2cfm/1000 eggs ventilation for 10 hours. After 10 hours of storage both groups were pre-heated at 80 0F for 5 hours leading to incubation conditions. Hatchability % (84.502±2.9221, 84.217±3.0279) candling% (6.5418±0.5605, 6.7682±0.5705) dead in shell% (6.5418±2.3112, 6.7682±2.3702) and hatch window (hours) (22-24±0.142, 26-28±0.1324) were significantly better for A compare to B respectively, Water loss% (11.556±0.1399, 11.545±0.1486), chick yield% (68.835±0.0926, 68.818±0.0928) and chick waste (gram) (19.67±1.721, 19.69±1.7653) were insignificant due to same incubation conditions inside incubator. The water loss from eggs of group A retained inside incubator have an impact on embryonic mortality including the duration of first and the last chick that hatches out. So, the deleterious effects of storage can be avoided by shifting the eggs inside a single stage incubator before 10 hours of incubation including pre-heating.