Full Length Research Paper

Hatchability of chicken eggs as influenced by turning frequency in hurricane lantern incubator

S. S. Abiola^1*, A. O. Afolabi² and O. J. Dosunmu²

¹Department of Agriculture, School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Technology, Private Bag X20539, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.

²Department of Animal Production and Health, University of Agriculture, P.M.B. 2240, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: sabiola@cut.ac.za. 

Accepted 25 September, 2008

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of turning frequency of chicken eggs on hatchability in hurricane lantern incubator. There were four treatments in which eggs were not turned in treatment one (control), those in treatment two were turned once daily (morning), treatment three turned twice daily (morning and afternoon) while treatment four were turned thrice daily (morning, afternoon and evening). A range of 9.86 - 11.51% egg weight loss was obtained with the lowest value of 9.86% recorded in the control experiment. Egg turning three times daily produced highest hatchability of 72.90%. Embryonic mortality occurred in all the treatments. Early embryonic mortality (DIG) was highest (70.85%) in treatment two while late embryonic mortality (DIS) was highest (66.65%) in treatment three. Hatching occurred in the three zones of the egg. Most of the chicks hatched from the equatorial region while few ones hatched from the narrow end of the egg. Manual turning of eggs three times a day is recommended for hurricane lantern incubator in order to enhance minimal egg weight loss and higher hatchability of chicks. Such incubator could be used for hatching eggs of domestic fowls, turkeys, ducks, etc thereby taking hatchery operations to the door- steps of small-scale poultry farmers.

Key words: hatchability, chicken eggs, hurricane lantern incubator.