How to optimally use your egg incubator - Batch vs Continuous Incubation

Did you know that by following the correct incubation methods you could increase the output by your Surehatch Incubator by as much as 4 times?

Deciding what capacity Surehatch Incubator you should invest in can be tricky. You might find that buying a smaller capacity incubator can yield the same output as a larger incubator - the only difference being the method of loading and production!

Use the info below to decide which method works best for you! 

As always you can e-mail any questions to sales@surehatch.co.za

In this how-to article we will discuss the benefits of using "continuous incubation" vs "batch incubation". Let's first discuss the difference between the two methods:

Batch Incubation - this is where you load a certain number of eggs and wait 21 days for
them to hatch. With this method the maximum number of eggs you can load at a time is
determined by your hatching space. This method is mainly used by hobby and small scale users. You basically load eggs into your incubator and wait 21 days for them to hatch. Once you've hatched you load another batch and the process starts over.

Continuous Incubation - this is where you load eggs every week in order to get chicks
hatching on a weekly basis. Each week you load one third of your setting space with eggs. As each batch of eggs reach 18 days you transfer them to the hatcher. This transfer makes space for a new batch of eggs to be placed in the setter. Eggs stay in the hatcher for 3 days until they hatch. This process continues every week, resulting in weekly hatches.

The egg setting and transfer process to the hatcher:

Regardless of whether you choose to use batch or continuous incubation you will still need to follow the process of setting and transfer to the hatcher.

All our combo incubators (SH180, SH280, SH370, SH560, SH680, SH1300 and SH1700) feature two compartments in the same incubator - the setting compartment and the hatching compartment. This design allows for significant cost savings to you seeing that you need only purchase a single machine to do both setting and hatching. It's more suited for smaller scale incubation/production.

On the other end of the spectrum you get single purpose incubators (More suitable for commercial and large scale incubation/production). They are the called single stage setters and single stage hatchers. We currently have two single stage models - the SH2160 Setter and the SH2000 Hatcher. This single purpose design allows for more eggs to be set and hatched at a time. There are various other benefits to using single stage machines - these will be discussed at a later stage.

So, now that you know the two different methods of production, which one do you think suits your needs best? 

Below is a table showing output of our combo incubators when using continuous weekly incubation.