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Incubation 55

Because eggs and chicks are vulnerable to infection and disturbance, the hatchery should be
treated as a quarantine facility with access restricted to only essential personnel. The design should
allow the primary functional areas to be separated and a one‐way traffic flow, from cleanest to dirti-
est, should be maintained. The incubation room, with only intact eggs, has the least contamina-
tion. Before they are externally pipped, eggs should be moved to the hatching room as the shell
waste and feather dander of hatched chicks can provide substrates for microbial growth. Once
hatched and rested, chicks should be moved to the chick‐rearing room where food, feces, and more
feather dander create the greatest source of contamination. Tools and equipment should also fol-
low this one‐way path, being thoroughly disinfected before returning to previous areas.
Construct rooms with materials that allow all surfaces to be washable, including floors, walls,
and ceilings. Only equipment and supplies in current use should be kept in the room and eliminate
all clutter. Historic paper records and reference materials are invariably dusty and should be stored
elsewhere. Rooms should have adequate ventilation with frequent air changes and, ideally, a sepa-
rate system for each functional area. The environment should be kept at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C) and
must be as dry as possible to minimize microbial growth and optimize incubator function.
In developing the hatchery design, consideration should also be given to every aspect of its func-
tion. An efficient design facilitates easy servicing of incubators, routine weighing and candling of
eggs, frequent cleaning, and maintaining and moving equipment.
Although the skill of the person operating an incubator is far more important than the machine
itself, investment in high‐quality equipment invariably pays off. There is no one incubator that is
best and in fact all have potential quirks. The number and type acquired will depend on each facil-
ity’s species, number of eggs, and budget. Discussion of options with those in established hatcher-
ies is helpful in making these decisions. For many operations, a good strategy is to have at least
three incubators, all set at the same temperature but at different humidities so that eggs can be
moved among them as needed rather than making risky adjustments during incubation.
Most incubators currently available for avicultural incubation are table‐top models, making it
possible to have several in a relatively small room. Nearly all employ a forced‐air system in which
air is circulated by a fan, creating a relatively uniform temperature throughout the cabinet. Popular
brands available in the United States include: Grumbach (Grumbach USA LLC), Georgia Quail
Farm (GQF Manufacturing), Brinsea (Brinsea Products), Rcom (Rcom Company). A. B. Newlife
incubators (A.B. Incubators) can be ordered only from the United Kingdom, but have been used in
some U.S. facilities with good results. Brinsea has been marketing a “contact” incubator which is
intended to more closely simulate natural incubation. The air above a flexible plastic membrane is
heated by a forced‐air system. This membrane is then in contact with the tops of the eggs in the tray
underneath, creating a temperature gradient from the top to bottom through each egg, which is
somewhat similar to a still‐air system. Inexpensive incubators made primarily for classroom use
with chicken eggs are usually not reliable enough for avicultural incubation. The Humidaire
Incubator Company is now out of business but their popular table‐top Models 20 and 21 – as well
as their older free‐standing Model 50, Ostrich, and Gooser incubators – may be worth purchasing
used, although replacement parts may be difficult to find. The Petersime Company has also discon-
tinued making their excellent free‐standing incubator Models 1 and 4. Sunny Creek Farms in
Minnesota acquires and sells used incubators, incubator parts, and operating manuals.
Nearly all current models have electronic temperature controls that are accurate and dependa-
ble. Older incubators may employ mercury contact thermometers or ether wafers to control tem-
perature. Contact thermometers are also accurate but have a fatal flaw in that when they fail, the
heating element stays on rather than shutting off and eggs are rapidly overheated. Ether wafers
were once the most common incubator thermostats and are still used as a back‐up temperature