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Agriculture for Secondary Schools
Advantages of natural incubation
(a) The system does not require high costs for investment.
(b) With satisfactory condition, hatchability is higher than artificial incubation.
(c) It is applicable to small scale poultry breeders/home flock.
(d) No specific skills required as well as egg candling.
Disadvantages of natural incubation
(a) Possibility of disease infection and parasitic infestation is high.
(b) Broody hen takes care of a limited number of eggs (12 - 15 eggs per hen).
(c) Broody hen may die before hatching thus losing the whole batch.
(d) Hatching may be poor due to uncontrolled environment.
Artificial incubation and brooding: In the commercial farms where a large number
of birds are kept, incubation is done artificially by the use of incubators and hatchers
or combined machines. Their capacity ranges from 100 to a million eggs in one
machine. Figure 9.4 shows an egg incubator.
Figure 9.4: Incubator for artificial incubation
Source: https://www.anklabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Poultry-Incubator.jpg
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