Influence of Prestorage Incubation on the Hatchability of Guinea Fowl Eggs Stored for Fourteen Days

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different prestorage incubation (PRESI) times of 0, 3, 6 and 9 h on the hatchability of guinea fowl eggs stored for 14 d. A total of 80 eggs were assigned to each of the four PRESI treatments. PRESI-3h, PRESI-6h and PRESI-9h eggs were placed in an incubator at 37.5°C and 65% relative humidity for 3, 6 and 9 h, respectively, before storage with the PRESI-0h (control) eggs for 14 d at 18°C. After 14 d storage period the eggs were incubated at 37.5°C and 65% relative humidity. After 30d incubation period, the total number of eggs hatched (keets) were counted and all unhatched eggs opened to determine fertility. Hatchability data were analyzed using General linear Models of SAS and the model included fixed effects of PRESI treatments. The results indicated that PRESI treatment had an influence on the hatchability of both fertile and set eggs. PRESI-6h resulted in higher hatchability of both fertile and set eggs compared to the control group. There were however, no significant differences in hatchability of fertile eggs and hatchability of set eggs between the PRESI-9h and the control groups. These results indicate that PRESI-6h greatly reduces embryonic mortality resulting in higher hatchability compared to the other groups. It therefore appears that PRESI-6h could be used as a strategy of improving the hatchability of guinea fowl eggs stored for 14d.