EUROPEAN POULTRY SCIENCE, cilt.87, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
By preheating the eggs before incubation, all embryos are set to the same developmental stage. In this manner, the hatching window can be shortened and hatchability can increase. Before incubation, a total of 491 partridge and 460 guinea fowl eggs were preheated at 28 & DEG;C and 60% relative humidity for 0, 4, 6, and 8 hours. Preheating significantly affected hatchability in both partridge and guinea fowl eggs. In partridge eggs, the hatchability of fertile eggs was 73.31% in the 0-hour preheated group and 92.94% in the 8-hour preheated group. The hatching rates of guinea fowl eggs were 69.60, 80.07, 84.38 and 78.23% in the 0, 4, 6 and 8 hours preheated groups, respectively. Partridge keets hatched from preheated eggs had significantly better quality, while guinea fowl keets did not differ in quality.