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Introduction

Fertile hatching eggs are produced with great care on a breeder farm. At the hatchery, the development of the embryos must proceed successfully to ensure a good start to the chicks’ lives so they subsequently achieve optimal growth, production and health. This book focuses on hatcheries for chickens, both laying hens and broilers. In the first half of the 20th century, hatcheries were copyright protected small-scale operations and there was no clear separation between egg and meat production. Nowadays, both sectors are completely separate production chains, from pedigree breeding to processed end products. In most countries, hatcheries have grown in size and the implementation and use of automated processes has continued to increase. However, hatching essentially remains a natural process that has remained unchanged for millions of years. Despite all the automated process control, sound knowledge of the natural hatching process is vital to achieve good results A hatchery in 1950. A hatchery in 2020. from artificial incubation.