To make sure that fertilized eggs are laid in the incubator and the embryo develops safely in them, you will need an ovoscope. If this device is not available, you can make its analogue yourself.
It is necessary
- - an ovoscope or a homemade device for translucent eggs
- - egg storage tray
- - latex gloves
Instructions
Step 1
For incubation, it is advisable to lay eggs from your own chickens, and not imported ones. The hatching rate of the latter is often below 50% due to the fact that during transportation, the embryo dies from vibrations and temperature drops. But this can also happen if the incubation process is disrupted in some way. Therefore, farmers have a rule: check eggs before laying, 6-7 and 11-13 days after it.
Step 2
How to check eggs in an incubator with an ovoscope?
This procedure is carried out very carefully and only with cleanly washed hands. Thin rubber gloves can be worn. You need to take the egg with two fingers, check it and put it back - with the sharp end down. Movements should be smooth and accurate. Each egg removed from the incubator must not only be checked by transillumination, but also well examined for darkening or cracks in the shell.
Step 3
If the ovoscope is not available, you can make its analogue: a simple structure from a small cardboard box or a wooden box, at the bottom of which a low-power light bulb (60-100 W) should be installed. Directly above it, you need to cut a circle of such a size so that you can safely lay an egg in the recess. From the lamp to the box lid should be no more than 15 cm.
Step 4
An ovoscope or homemade appliance is best used in a darkened room. In this case, the transillumination result will be seen more clearly. During inspection, the egg must be turned gently and slowly. The ambient temperature must be sufficient to prevent hypothermia of the embryo. To make the verification procedure simpler and less laborious, it is recommended to install a tray for storing eggs next to the ovoscope and place them in it with the blunt end up. But you must also remember that the egg can be outside the incubator for no more than two minutes.
Step 5
How to tell if an embryo is alive?
When the eggs are translucent before setting in the incubator, only the air chamber is most often visible. The embryo and embryo are visible as a faint shadow with indistinct boundaries. Determining whether an egg is fertilized is difficult. Therefore, farmers do culling based on visual clues. For example, only large eggs with an even, clean shell are placed in the incubator. On the 6-7th day of incubation, a network of thin blood vessels can be distinguished at the pointed end of the egg, and the embryo itself looks like a dark spot. If the vessels are not visible, then the embryo is dead.
