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An incubator is a device simulating avian incubation by keeping eggs warm at a particular temperature range and in the correct humidity with a turning mechanism to hatch them. The common names of the incubator in other terms include breeding / hatching machines or hatchers, setters, and egg breeding / equipment. [1]
Egg incubation is done under favorable environmental conditions, possibly by brooding and hatching the egg. Multiple and various factors are vital to the incubation of various species of animal. In many species of reptile for example, no fixed temperature is necessary, but the actual temperature determines the sex ratio of the offspring.
The eggs will hatch during a period that is often referred to as the hatching window, which can stretch from 24 to 48 hours depending on biological variation. [11] Once the eggs hatch and the chicks are a few days old, they are often vaccinated. Chicks hatched conventionally are provided feed and water first when they reach the rearing farm.
More elaborate incubators can also include the ability to lower the temperature (via refrigeration), or the ability to control humidity or CO 2 levels. This is important in the cultivation of mammalian cells, where the relative humidity is typically >80% to prevent evaporation and a slightly acidic pH is achieved by maintaining a CO 2 level of 5%.
The eggs and larvae can both tolerate periods of low temperature but neither can survive in hot and dry weather. In perfect conditions with high humidity and temperatures exceeding 15 °C most eggs will hatch within 24 hours, compared with at 5 °C where the eggs may take several days to hatch out.
This means the cuckoo chick can hatch before the host's chicks do, and it can eject the unhatched eggs from the nest. Scientists incubated common cuckoo eggs for 24 hours at the bird's body temperature of 40 °C (104 °F), and examined the embryos, which were found "much more advanced" than those of other species studied.
After this period, the hatching activity accelerates and the shell is broken apart in 35 hours. The chick is completely free in 37 hours. [62] Upon hatching, the chicks are covered in fluffy white down. One day after hatching, chicks will weigh 105 to 115 g (3.7 to 4.1 oz), with an average of 110.6 g (3.90 oz).
Temperature control system maintained temperatures between 37.8–37.9°C using a thermistor-regulator, with real-time monitoring at the embryo level. The study set a milestone, showing that chick embryos could survive up to 18 days in opened shells within this incubator. [11]