Hatching Characteristics of Local and Exotic (Egg Type) Chickens using a Locally Fabricated Incubator

Fertility and hatchability rates were studied in 10 lines established from three strains of the domestic chickens namely, H and N Brown Nick (strain 1), Black Olympia (strain 2) and Nigerian Local chicken (strain 3). The incubator used for the study was a locally fabricated hand turner with a capacity of 250 eggs. Four of such incubators were used at a time. Strains I and 2 had higher hatchability rate of 78.09% and 82.64% respectively compared with strain 3 (64.52%). Generally, fertility rate was high and did not differ significantly (P> 0.05) between the strains. Chick’s embryo mortality was most critical during the periods of 0-7 days and 18-21 days of incubation. Significant (P<0.01) within strain differences in fertility, hatchability and embryo mortality (0-7days) was observed in strain I and only in hatchability in strain 3. The results indicate that within strain selection, good management of the breeding stocks and proper incubation management will improve on fertility and hatchability in poultry. Keywords: fertility, hatchability, embryo mortality, strains, lines within strain