13/08/2025
🐣 The Purpose of a Break Test – How to Tell if an Egg Was Fertile
Not all eggs in your incubator will hatch — but the big question is why?
The Break Test helps farmers find out.
🔍 What is a Break Test?
It’s when you carefully crack open unhatched eggs after the hatch to check for signs of development.
💡 Purpose:
To see if the egg was fertile (it started developing) or infertile (no development at all).
To pinpoint whether low hatch rates are caused by poor fertility or incubation problems.
🛠 How to Do It:
1. Wait until the hatch is complete.
2. Collect all unhatched eggs.
3. Crack them open gently into a tray.
4. Look for embryo development signs:
Fertile Egg – Development Visible
Early stage: Tiny red blood spot or a network of thin blood vessels on the yolk.
Mid stage: Small chick shape forming with eyes and body outline.
Late stage: Fully formed chick that died before hatching.
Infertile Egg – No Development
Clear egg white and yolk with no blood spots or veins.
📊 Why It’s Important:
Mostly infertile eggs? Problem is with breeder flock, rooster ratio, or egg collection.
Mostly fertile eggs that didn’t hatch? Problem is with incubation settings, temperature, humidity, or turning.
✅ Takeaway:
The Break Test is a farmer’s detective tool — helping you find the real cause of poor hatch rates so you can fix it and improve your results.
