Hatching Egg Production, Storage and Sanitation

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HATCHING-EGG PRODUCTION

STORAGE AND SANITATION

POULTRY FACT SHEET NO. 22 - COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - Revised July 2002

Ralph A. Ernst Extension Poultry Specialist University of California, Davis, CA 95616

The most important step in egg sanitation is the production of nest-clean eggs. This requires a carefully planned management system. The following practices have proved useful in producing clean hatching eggs and in keeping the eggs clean until they are set in incubators.

Maintain birds on wire, plastic, or wooden slatted floors whenever possible. However, some commercial strains of chickens and turkeys do not produce well in this environment.
To keep floor eggs to a minimum, provide one nest for every four hens. Be sure nests are in place before egg production starts.
Keep nests filled with clean nesting material.
Collect eggs frequently (at least four times a day).
Exclude hens from nests at night.
Use semi-trap gates on turkey nests. These prevent two hens from entering the same nest.
Maintain dry litter at all times.
Collect eggs on clean, sanitized, plastic flats or in clean egg baskets.
Separate cracked, stained, and heavy dirty eggs as you collect them, and don't set them.
Wash or fumigate clean eggs as soon as possible after collection. This kills microbes on the outside of the shell. It does not kill microbes that have penetrated the shell.
Cool eggs overnight in flats before placing them in cases. If eggs are to be stored, place them in a clean room held at 55^oF to 68^oF and 75 percent relative humidity.

Table 1. Recommended hatching egg storage temperature.

Duration of Egg Storage (days)*	Recommended Storage Temperature
1	68^oF
1 to 4	65^oF
5 or more	55^oF to 60^oF
* Eggs which will be stored more than 7 days will benefit from daily turning and storage in plastic bags.

Always wash hands thoroughly with a disinfectant soap before handling eggs.
Never allow eggs to sweat; they may sweat when moved from storage into a warmer room. You can prevent this by putting eggs in trays in a temperature-controlled room (see table below).

Combinations of temperature and relative humidity in egg-handling rooms causing eggs to sweat when stored at 60^oF or 65^oF.

Conditions in Room Where Eggs Will be Handled
Temperature (^oF)	Relative Humidity
	Eggs Removed From 60^oF Egg Storage	Eggs Removed From 65^oF Egg Storage
60	Eggs won't sweat	Eggs won't sweat
65	85%	Eggs won't sweat
70	71%	83%
75	60%	71%
80	51%	60%
85	44%	51%
90	37%	43%
100	28%	32%

Egg Fumigation/Disinfection

Formaldehyde gas has been used to reduce contamination on egg shells for many years. Label registration for this use was lost for several years but EPA has again registered several formaldehyde products for incubator and hatching egg fumigation. At this time no formaldehyde product has California registration for this use.

Disinfectants can be sprayed onto clean eggs during collection. Any disinfectant registered for use on hatching eggs can be used in this way. Check with local suppliers for registered materials.

Egg Washing

Some producers prefer to wash hatching eggs because residual disinfectant material remains on the eggs, which protects against recontamination.

Egg washing effectively sanitizes hatching eggs if proper equipment is available to do the job correctly. However, washing can cause contamination of eggs if the water temperature drops below recommended levels or if contamination exceeds the capacity of the disinfectant in a reservoir-type or immersion washer. Wash water must always be hotter than the eggs (recommended range, 110^oF to 120^oF). The washing solution must contain a detergent-sanitizer. A washer that does not recirculate water is recommended. If an immersion or reservoir-type washer is used, the water must be changed frequently; do not wash more than 200 eggs per gallon of solution capacity. Immersion time should not exceed 3 minutes, and eggs should be thoroughly dry before they are put in cases.

Disinfectants and Detergents for Egg Washing

Several disinfectants are safe for hatching-egg disinfection. Chlorine-based disinfectants have been most widely used to wash table eggs and have proved safe for hatching-egg sanitation. University of California research has shown quaternary ammonium to be an excellent sanitizer for hatching eggs. The advantages of quaternary ammonium are that it:

Is safe for hatching eggs at levels up to 10,000 ppm.
Leaves residual protection on eggs.
Is safe for equipment and personnel.
Is reasonable in cost.
Is compatible with antibiotic dipping of eggs since it is safe to use as a disinfectant in dipping solutions.

For egg washing, a solution containing 250 ppm quaternary ammonium and 10 ppm EDTA is recommended. Make the solution alkaline with sodium carbonate (a cleaning agent) to reach a pH of approximately 8.0.

Directions for preparing quaternary ammonium solutions.

Prepare the following stock solution:

10 percent quaternary ammonium disinfectant (alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride);
0.4 percent EDTA (disodium salt) (15 grams/gallon); plus
4.2 percent sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) 160 grams/gallon).

Dilute as follows:

For egg washing, use 1 ounce stock solution in 3 gallons water.
For equipment, use 2 ounces stock solution in 3 gallons water.

Summary

The key to production of quality chicks is production of clean eggs. Proper egg sanitation will reduce transfer of bacteria from egg shells to chicks.

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