From laying to hatching: candling, incubation and hatch rate
An egg that fails to hatch has two very different causes, and they must be told apart before anything is corrected: either it was never fertilised, or the embryo died during incubation.
Clear or dead: two problems, two answers
A clear egg was never fertilised. The problem then lies with the breeding birds: a poorly matched pair, a male too young or too old, insufficient condition, a season badly begun. Longer heat will change nothing.
A fertilised egg whose embryo dies tells another story: temperature, humidity, ventilation, turning, or a failure at one precise stage of incubation. The corrective action has nothing in common with the previous one.
Confusing the two means answering an incubator fault by changing the male, or the reverse. That is why candling is worth the trouble.
Candling, and when to do it
Candling means lighting the egg from behind to observe what is developing inside. Mississippi State University Extension Service indicates that it is generally done after four to seven days of incubation, white-shelled eggs being easier to check, and checkable earlier, than dark-shelled ones.
At that stage, a fertilised egg shows a network of blood vessels; a clear egg stays uniformly translucent.
Four factors, and one duration per species
Temperature, humidity, ventilation and turning govern artificial incubation. The same source recommends turning eggs at least four to six times a day, and not disturbing them during the three days before hatching.
Duration depends entirely on the species: twenty-one days for chickens, seventeen for Coturnix quail, twenty-eight for turkeys and most ducks, around thirty-three for geese. Cage species have their own durations, often much shorter. No universal setting exists.
What this changes in AviarySoft
A clutch is recorded with its date, its number of eggs and the pair it came from, then moves through its status: available, candled, under natural incubation or in an incubator, hatched, failed, discarded, consumed or sold. Starting incubation triggers the calculation of the expected hatch date.
Telling a clear egg from a dead embryo is not a matter of status, which describes the clutch’s journey, but of the clutch notes, where you record what candling showed. That is where reading back a season pays off: the hatch rate raises the alarm, the notes say which of the two causes is responsible, and therefore which action to take.
How do I record an egg laying?
From the 'Eggs' page, click the add button. Enter the laying date, number of eggs and optionally the breeding pair. You can also record an egg laying directly from a pair's record or via the three-dot menu / context menu (right-click).
What are the different egg statuses?
Each egg record has a configurable status: available in stock, sold, in artificial incubator, naturally brooded, hatched, failed or consumed. You can customize or add statuses in the configuration.
How does incubation tracking work?
When you set an egg record to incubation status (artificial or natural), AviarySoft automatically calculates the expected hatch date based on the species' incubation duration, configurable in the species configuration page. A progress bar lets you track advancement, and a notification alerts you on the expected hatching day.
How do I record hatching?
From an egg record in incubation, enter the hatch date, number of successful and failed hatchings, and add notes if needed. AviarySoft automatically calculates the success rate.
Are bird records created automatically at hatching?
Yes! When you record a hatching, AviarySoft offers to automatically create records for the newborn birds. Each bird is pre-filled with the species, breed, birth date and link to the parent pair. The ring number and gender remain to be completed later. If you change the number of successful hatchings afterwards, the app will create additional bird records or ask you to delete the extra ones.
How do I sell eggs?
Choose the 'Sold' status when recording the egg laying. A field appears to enter the unit sale price. AviarySoft automatically calculates the total amount and tracks your egg sale revenue in the statistics.
Must egg records be linked to a breeding pair?
No, the link to a pair is optional but recommended. It allows AviarySoft to automatically detect the species to calculate incubation duration, enable sequential laying if the species supports it, and trace the genealogy of birds born from hatching.
What is sequential laying?
Some species like pigeons lay their eggs at regular intervals (e.g. 2 eggs 2 days apart). AviarySoft automatically detects these species, pre-fills the quantity and calculates dates accordingly. Incubation only starts after the last egg is laid.
What statistics are available for eggs?
The eggs page shows the total number of eggs, available eggs, incubating eggs and hatched eggs. You also see sale revenue, hatch rates and average production. More detailed statistics are available on the Statistics page, reserved for the Premium and Pro plans.
How do I search and filter my egg records?
You can filter by species, breed, status, pair and time period. An option lets you hide completed records (sold, consumed, hatched, failed). Search covers pair name and notes.
Can I delete an egg record?
Yes, from the three-dot menu or context menu (right-click), or by selecting multiple records in table view. Note: deleting a hatched egg record does not delete the birds created from it.
How do I configure incubation duration per species?
In each species' settings (Configuration page), you can set the number of incubation days, clutch size and interval between eggs for sequential laying species.