Research Paper on Egg Turning During Incubation

📌Category: Animals, Biology, Environment, Science
📌Words: 830
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 22 March 2022

Abstract

Large poultry corporations and local poultry farmers all over the country are tasked with the job of turning eggs multiple times a day during the incubation process. Not only does this take time, but it also takes money. So, is turning the eggs in the incubator really necessary? In this experiment we have two groups of five fertilized eggs. One group will be turned four times a day until they hatch, while the other group, however, will not be turned at all while in the incubator.  

Our hypothesis is that the group of eggs that were turned during the incubation process will have a higher hatching percentage. This is because turning the egg allows for the diffusion of gasses within the egg and into the external environment. This prevents the embryo from sticking to the shell of the egg which would ultimately lead to the death of the embryo. 

In our experiment we had a 70%  hatching rate. This was made up of four eggs from the turning group that hatched  and three eggs from the non-turning group that hatched. In conclusion it is better to turn eggs in the incubator. There was a 20% difference between the turning and non-turning groups.

Introduction

Does turning the eggs in the incubator affect the hatching rate? In the past there have been many experiments done. Most of these experiments are done by large corporations. The average hatching rate is always in the range of 70% to 80%, which includes both the turning and non-turning group averaged together. In this experiment there will be a control group of five eggs that are turned four times a day until they hatch, as well as an experimental group with the same amount of eggs, but will not be turned at all during the incubation process. We will use these two groups to determine if our hypothesis is correct or not.

Literature Review

Hens regularly turn their eggs, which is why we copy this habit when the eggs are in an incubator. This is common knowledge, as well as the first fact stated in every article used as a source. If eggs are not turned regularly, the yolk inside will eventually make contact with the inner shell membrane, and when this happens the embryo may stick to the shell and die. By turning the eggs one is preventing such things from happening as well as providing the embryo with the chance to encounter fresh nutrients and oxygen within. The only materials needed to prove this conclusion is an incubator and a few fertilized eggs, but because no articles could be found with actual studies and conducted experiments, one cannot be sure about other needed materials. A couple of the cites used to complete research were https://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/TurningEggs.aspx and https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3184/175815509X431849?journalCode=avba&, both of which had well written articles describing the reasons everyone should regularly turn their eggs. There are no notable studies or experiments done with this particular hypothesis as it has a very clear answer, considering U.S. farmers begin artificially hatching eggs following the invention of the first American incubator in 1844. This research could only complement existing information by further proving such information is correct. >>

Materials and Methods

The materials used for this project are as follows:

Ten fertilized eggs

a Little Giant Still-Air incubator

a pencil

a notebook to keep logs

Our methods only include turning the eggs every few hours; once in the morning, twice throughout the day, and once in the after-noon. This amounts to four times a day

Results

From early on we knew about what the hatching percentage would be. We knew this by reading different papers and looking at their results. For the turning eggs it was 70%-80% and for the non-turning eggs it was 35%-50%. Overall in our experiment we had a 60% hatching rate. The table below shows which eggs did and did not hatch.

Turning eggs                       Hatching rate 80%

Non-Turning eggs               Hatching rate 40%

Egg 1 hatched 

Egg 1 did not hatch 

Egg 2 hatched 

Egg 2 hatched 

Egg 3 hatched 

Egg 3 hatched 

Egg 4 did not hatch 

Egg 4 did not hatch 

Egg 5 hatched 

Egg 5 did not hatch

Discussion and Conclusions 

Once again, we ask our earlier question: is it necessary to turn eggs in an incubator? Technically no, it is not, but without turning the eggs there is only a 40% hatching rate. Having this low of a hatching rate would harshly affect the production rate of poultry farmers. This would eventually affect the economy, making the price of chicks, eggs, and poultry meat skyrocket. Our hypothesis was that there would be a higher hatching rate for the turning group and this was correct. There was a 40% difference between the turning and non turning group. Overall there was a hatching rate of 60%. This would probably have been 80% if all the eggs were being turned. Therefore, in conclusion, turning the eggs in an incubator does affect hatching.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the people who helped us during this project. This includes our FFA advisors Mrs. Morgan Oyster and Mr. Caleb Phillips as they helped by supplying some materials such as the eggs and the incubator.

References

The following is a list of sources used for our research:

https://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/TurningEggs.aspx

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3184/175815509X431849?journalCode=avba&

https://www.emtech-systems.com/technical-talk/egg-turning-during-incubation-a-review-by-mohamed-mostafa-el-ashram/#:~:text=Research%20has%20showed%20that%20egg,stopping%20will%20not%20affect%20hatchability. 

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