Disclosed is a device for the automatic removal of rejected eggs from an incubation tray, whereby the device includes a suction power above the egg to suck up the egg, and the device further includes a blowing power against the bottom of the egg to blow away the egg, whereby the blowing power blows an air flow or overpressure against the bottom of the egg. Also disclosed is a method for the automatic removal of one or more rejected eggs from an incubation tray.

Disclosed is a device for the automatic removal of rejected eggs from an incubation tray, whereby the device includes a suction power above the egg to suck up the egg, and the device further includes a blowing power against the bottom of the egg to blow away the egg, whereby the blowing power blows an air flow or overpressure against the bottom of the egg. Also disclosed is a method for the automatic removal of one or more rejected eggs from an incubation tray.

A new chick production method and a new chick production system are obtained which are different from a conventional method in which all live eggs are collectively accommodated in a hatcher tray to develop chicks. The chick production method of the present invention divides mid-hatch eggs into a plurality of groups based on physical information measured for the mid-hatch eggs during a period from when the eggs are accommodated in a setter tray to when the eggs are transferred to a hatcher tray, and accommodates the mid-hatch eggs in the hatcher tray to develop chicks. In addition, a chick production system of the present invention includes a measurement unit, a sorting unit, and an accommodation unit, and the chicks are developed by each of a plurality of hatcher trays.

The present invention relates to a hatcher basket for holding newly hatched birds in an incubator. The basket has: —a pair of side walls on horizontally opposite sides having a plurality of horizontally-extending openings through them; —a horizontally-extending trough which is attached to the exterior of each side wall and which can contain feed for the newly hatched birds; —the bottom of each opening in each side wall being located at the same distance above the bottom of the side wall; —the top of each trough being located at this same distance above the bottom of its side wall; and —the size of each opening being significantly larger than the head of the newly hatched birds but significantly smaller than the thorax of the newly hatched birds.

The transfer machine comprises an input and output system (8) for inserting trays filled with incubated eggs into the transfer machine and for removing the emptied trays therefrom and a transfer system (9) for transferring the eggs from the trays to the floor of the poultry house. The transfer system (9) comprises a set of egg pickup members (28) mounted on a first sub-frame (30). The first sub-frame (30) is mounted on a second sub-frame (31) such that it can move up and down, the second sub-frame mounted on the frame (5) of the machine such that it can move back and forth between a first position, wherein the set of egg pickup members (28) is above the filled trays that have been inserted, and a second position, wherein the set of egg pickup members (28) is above the floor of the poultry house.

The transfer machine comprises an input and output system (8) for inserting trays filled with incubated eggs into the transfer machine and for removing the emptied trays therefrom and a transfer system (9) for transferring the eggs from the trays to the floor of the poultry house. The transfer system (9) comprises a set of egg pickup members (28) mounted on a first sub-frame (30). The first sub-frame (30) is mounted on a second sub-frame (31) such that it can move up and down, the second sub-frame mounted on the frame (5) of the machine such that it can move back and forth between a first position, wherein the set of egg pickup members (28) is above the filled trays that have been inserted, and a second position, wherein the set of egg pickup members (28) is above the floor of the poultry house.

An incubator (10) includes: (i) a housing (12) defining a chamber (14); (ii) an air inlet (16) for introducing air into the chamber (14); (iii) a first air outlet (18) for discharging air from the chamber (14), the first air outlet (18) being spaced from the air inlet (16); (iv) a stack of operatively vertically spaced first trays (22) disposed within the chamber (14), between the air inlet (16) and the first air outlet (18); and (v) a first means for tilting the stack of first trays (22) on a plane substantially perpendicular to the direction of operative airflow from the air inlet (16) to the first air outlet (18). A stack of operatively vertically spaced first deflectors (26) are disposed operatively upstream of the first trays (22) for, in use, dividing the airflow from the air inlet (16) to the first air outlet (18) into streams of airflow directed over the first trays (22); and the incubator (10) further includes a second means for tilting the first deflectors (26) on a plane substantially perpendicular to the direction of operative airflow from the air inlet (16) to the first air outlet (18), in use to align the first deflectors (26) with the first trays (22).

The invention relates to a composition comprising a mixture of at least one strain of a bacterium of the genus Bacillus and at least one strain of lactic acid bacterium for use in the prevention of infections in farmed oviparous animals.

The invention relates to a composition comprising a mixture of at least one strain of a bacterium of the genus Bacillus and at least one strain of lactic acid bacterium for use in the prevention of infections in farmed oviparous animals.

Incubating eggs of chicken or other poultry in an atmosphere in which the CO.sub.2 concentration is elevated at controlled levels, enhances the health and survivability of the chicks and, in the case of chickens, reduces the tendency of chicks hatched from the eggs thus treated to disorders such as Woody Breast.