Ready. Set. Go!
With all eggs accounted for and in order, it is now time to set them in our incubators. Each incubator alone holds 18 trollies, totalling over 90,000 pheasant chicks or over 126,000 partridge.
Our purpose-built incubators keep the level of heat and humidity in perfect harmony to ensure the health of the egg and. subsequently, the chick. Trollies start on the far side of the incubator, moving closer to the central heating element each week. The eggs will remain in the incubators for 21 days on pheasant and 20 days on partridge at a constant 37.6°C.
Ingeniously, the incubators automatically 'roll' the eggs on the hour every hour in the same way a hen would roll hers; a crucial step in allowing the embryo to develop evenly.
A meticulous bio-security policy ensures our hatchery is sees as the market-leader in safe, healthy chicks.
Trollies move from the outer to the centre each week to maintain an even and equitable heat and humidity environment.
With 25 incubators, our capacity of almost 8 million eggs per year helps us work closely with a variety of estates around the country and Ireland.
Every incubator is monitored 24/7. Our hatchery staff work round-the-clock to ensure year-after-year our hatch season runs like a well-oiled machine!
