Impact of Hatching Egg Disinfection on Hatching Characteristics and Chick Embryos

Abstract

Four thousand two hundred hatching eggs were obtained from Bandarah chicken to evaluate the effect of chemical and natural egg disinfectants and fumigation on egg weight loss, embryonic mortality, hatchability, hatch time, chick weight and chick weight loss. Three incubation trials were done; each one contained 1400 hatched eggs and divided into fourteen treatments (100 eggs per each). First treatment (T1) was used as control without any treatment, eggs of second treatment (T2) were dipped in water and third treatment in alcohol, whereas T4, T5, T6, T7 treated egg groups were dipped in chemical disinfectant (sodium chloride, betadine, hydrogen peroxide, virkon S). Egg of T9, T10, T11, T12, T13 and T14 groups were dipped in natural disinfectants (oregano, cumin 02 and 04 % and oregano+ cumin01 and 02), respectively. The thickest eggshell (031mm) was recorded for betadine group in infertile eggs compared with those for formaldehyde fumigation and oregano+cumin 01% oregano+cumin 01% group (035mm) compared with all other treatment groups. Formaldehyde fumigation recorded the worst and highest significant percentage of embryonic mortality (1795%). Highest significant percentages for hatchability of fertile egg were recorded in egg groups with oregano 02 and 04% (9687 and 9576%), cumin 02 and 04 % (9551and 9715%) and oregano+cumin01 and 02% (9619 and 9615%), respectively.