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A modern egg incubator. 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]
The humidity is also critical, because if the air is too dry the egg will lose too much water to the atmosphere, which can make hatching difficult or impossible. As incubation proceeds, an egg will normally become lighter, and the air space within the egg will normally become larger, owing to evaporation from the egg.
The earliest incubators were invented thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt and China, where they were used to keep chicken eggs warm. [1] Use of incubators revolutionized food production, as it allowed chicks to hatch from eggs without requiring that a hen sit on them, thus freeing the hens to lay more eggs in a shorter period of time.
Egyptian egg oven. An Egyptian egg oven or Egyptian mamal is an oven for hatching eggs by incubation using artificial heat. [1] Manmade hatching ovens in Egypt date back to the 4th century BC. [2] Although using old processing methods, they were considered effective at hatching chickens, especially in comparison to other techniques of the time. [3]
Poultry generally start with naturally (most species) or artificially (turkeys and Cornish-related chicken breeds) inseminated hens that lay eggs; the eggs are cleaned and shells are checked for soundness before being put into the incubators. Incubators control temperature and humidity, and turn the eggs until just before they hatch.
An egg incubator. Because hens stop laying when they become broody, commercial poultry breeders perceive broodiness as an impediment to egg and poultry meat production. [ 8 ] With domestication, it has become more profitable to incubate eggs artificially , while keeping hens in full egg production.