Avian breeders should expect to deal with many problems during the breeding season. One of them is poor hatchability. Proactive breeders can mitigate this problem if they know in advance what causes eggs to fail to hatch. Eggs fail to hatch for five main reasons:
- Nutrition
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Eggshell
- Disease
1. Poor diet
Lack of nutrition is a common reason for eggs’ failure to hatch. Scientific research indicates that lack of essential amino acids, mainly lysine and methionine, weakens the embryo. Eggs as food contain these two types of essential amino acids. Eggs also contain the rest of all other essential amino acids. So, hard-boiled eggs are a good choice to provide for laying hens.
Deficiency in vitamin E and A can also reduce hatchability. Therefore, attention must be paid to diet – a diet that is not limited to seeds. Seeds don’t contain all the minerals, vitamins, and amino acids that birds need, especially during the breeding season. Hatchability can be significantly improved by providing a wide variety of foods including vegetables and fruits. The breeder should also consider nutritional supplements if necessary.
2. Humidity
Researchers estimate that an egg should lose approximately 15% of its water content. Loss of water should occur evenly throughout the incubation period. Scientists also estimate that the nest of most wild birds maintain about 45% relative humidity, and this is the correct percentage needed for water to lose the right amount. High humidity makes the embryo wet inside the egg; on the contrary, low humidity makes the embryo dry. In both cases, it will fail to hatch and die inside.
As we know, we don’t live in an ideal world. Hence, it is difficult to control humidity as required under natural conditions. Let the female instinct do the job. But if it feels very dry in the aviary, the breeder should intervene to raise the humidity to an acceptable level. If the aviary is located in a dry climate, breeders should use a humidifier. Spraying eggs with water isn’t a good idea since it makes the nest dumped, and the eggs can become more susceptible to infection. Spraying water on the cage away from food is safe but may not be an effective measure, especially if humidity is normally low.
3. Temperature
Experienced avian breeders know that chicks that don’t hatch on the scheduled date, come out of the egg small in size and weak, and may suffer birth defects (that if chicks succeeded to hatch, to begin with). Delay in hatching could happen due to weather conditions inside the aviary such as cold drafts or perhaps the female eats frequently and longer than usual.
On the contrary, high temperatures can cause chicks to fail to hatch. If the eggs are directly exposed to sunlight through the window, the embryo is most likely to die and if it survives it hatches deformed. Experts consider that the ideal temperature for captive birds during the breeding season is 15 ° C. With this level of temperature, humidity can stay moderate, and therefore hatchability significantly improves.
4. Eggshell
The eggshell plays an important role in controlling the loss of the amount of water inside the egg. A poor eggshell can cause eggs to fail to hatch as well. Quality of eggshell is determined by many factors including genetic, female age, phosphorus to calcium ratio, the use of antibiotics, stress during egg formation, weather, and microbial diseases such Mycoplasma and E coli.
5. Harmful microbes
The last major reason which can make eggs fail to hatch is microbes. When harmful microbes such as Mycoplasma and E. coli successfully penetrate the eggshell, they cause infection and the embryo dies. To avoid this, the breeder must regularly clean the cage and its supplies and wash hands before handling eggs.
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