What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?. . . A Training Series of how to successfully breed chickens, quail,guinea fowl Etc

The most important part of breeding any species of birds is the egg. The following guidelines apply to both the hobbyist and the commercial breeder and will enable you to get the maximum hatch rate possible

Preparing your eggs

Fertile eggs must be collected at least once a day and stored in the coolest room, out of sunlight and wind. They can only be stored in two ways. Point down. . .

Or flat!

A hen turns her eggs many times a day, even before she starts incubating them. Her body contains antibacterial oils which are rubbed on them every time she turns them, killing harmful bacteria on the porous shell

In addition the egg has thousands of little veins which carry nutrients to the embryo. These, if not turned would eventually stick to the inside of the shell starving the chick

To succeed, we must imitate nature as best we can and that's a tough act to follow

Fertile eggs can be stored for between seven and a maximum of 10 days before incubating. This will allow you to build up enough eggs to fill your incubator. Fertility drops off dramatically after this
I noticed that my guinea fowl would lay up to 21 days before starting to incubate! And they usually achieved 99 % hatch rate!

The above eggs - chicken and Jumbo quail - are angled at approximately 45 degrees and need to turned twice a day. In other words, the eggs that are on top of the tray in the morning must be turned to the bottom in the evening

Modern Incubators either roll the eggs or tilt them

The rolling method is not used very much these days

Its very important to label your eggs with the species and the date they were laid. Even more important is to use only a pencil, as some of the inks - especially felt pens - can poison the embryos !

Do not wash dirty eggs you find in the nest!
When laid, the eggs come out with a protective coating which prevents excessive moisture from escaping. This will even affect your eating egg's lifespan reducing it down to as low as a single week, instead of staying fresh for between three and four weeks.
To reduce dirty eggs on the homestead put a thick layer of dry grass in the nest boxes

In series 2 I'll continue from here with breeding guidelines on incubating fertile eggs and rearing healthy chicks
My intention is that this series will, in time form a complete book enabling the user to breed with confidence for home or commercial use