Embryology: Learning about the incubation of embryonic failures

Dr. Keith Bramwell, Manager of Technical Consulting Jamesway Incubator Company, was in charge of the presentation on “Embryology: Learning about the incubation of embryonic failures” during the LPN Congress 2018.

Poultry farmers have a much easier time obtaining new information about management programs than before. Thanks to the magic of the internet, high-capacity storage devices and other electronic devices, as well as manuals and procedural guides, are readily available to aid decision-making about bird or facility management.

However, trying to excel in all aspects of poultry production systems using only precise guidelines is often wrong since this type of production depends on biological systems that do not always respond in the same way to stimuli.

A program or guide that works perfectly in one location might not have the same results as in other operations with different teams or work with other strains or combinations thereof.

Facilities and equipment may differ slightly, even based on the same objectives or guidelines.

Producers often try to imitate other successful system programs to reproduce their results. Sometimes this works, while other times, it doesn’t.

How can growers refine their procedures to achieve the best results?

Learn from the chicken embryo

With the increasing availability of technology and the experience of others, growers sometimes try to follow the exact guidelines used by others in hopes of achieving the same results.

In some cases, technology has caused growers to over-rely on these management guidelines and expect the results to be entirely predictable when implemented. When working with a biological system (eggs, embryos, chicks, etc.), there are variations within the animal group, making your answer less exact. It’s easy to copy successful programs, but the real learning comes after evaluating the failures. Embryodiagnosis is an example of this practice that allows learning from failures.

The producers of a lifetime were based more on management and the use of common sense. Lacking modern technology, producers applied management practices and made decisions based on behavior patterns and animal activity. They let the animals “talk” or “communicate” how they felt.

While a stress-free animal may exhibit certain observable behaviors or cues, stressed animals also display signals or actions indicating their feelings. Therefore, when guidelines are implemented only for what they serve and are accompanied by the observation of the behavior of the animals, the implemented guidelines will be perfected.

Incubation improvement

Any commercial hatchery, or the hatchery manager, will have one or more protocols for setters and hatchers. The protocols were implemented based on the previous successes of the installation itself or another.

From this point on, proper and routine embryodiagnosis and analysis of hatch residues are critical to the overall success of the hatchery. Learning from failure, letting embryos communicate their developmental status, and then using this information to adjust or modify existing protocols to maximize hatchability and chick quality is the best path to hatchery success.

However, embryo diagnosis must be consistent and accurate to obtain maximum information.

All personnel involved in the process MUST be on the same page when determining the stage of embryonic loss. Otherwise, it will be difficult or even impossible to obtain accurate results.

Group training and improvement by the staff and external consultants are necessary to obtain consistent data on embryonic losses.

Conclusions

Several management programs are considered successful, but the key to each one has almost certainly been modified to suit each situation or location.

Taking successful programs and investing the time and effort to learn what and how the embryos and chicks are trying to communicate will result in the best program and results for any poultry operation.