Hatchery Management
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Week 2 lecture
What is a Hatchery?
• A hatchery is a facility where eggs are
incubated and hatched.
• Many hatcheries also care for the young
animals in their first few days or weeks of life,
until they are healthy and old enough to be
shipped to another location.
Purpose of hatchery
• There are several different types of hatchery
in use around the world, and hatcheries may
be established for numerous purposes,
ranging from conservation to a need to create
a stable food supply.
• Some hatcheries handle fish such as salmon.
• They collect, monitor, and incubate the eggs,
using the young fish to stock ponds, streams,
and fish farming operations.
• The hatchery may be established for the
purpose of increasing the population of an
endangered species, or for supplying fish for
sport, ornamentation, and food.
• Fish hatcheries tend to specialize in a
particular species.
• The release of hatchery fish into the wild has
been a controversial topic in some regions,
with opponents arguing that the fish may
cause problems in native fish populations,
ranging from weakening genetic stock to
spreading disease.
Many salmon are bred in fish hatcheries.
• Other hatcheries deal with poultry such as
chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys.
• Poultry hatcheries often handle multiple
species, using large incubators to incubate the
eggs and protect the young in the early stages
of their lives.
• Some hatcheries breed birds for private
consumers, such as fancy breeds of chicken
kept by hobbyists, while others supply poultry
to the agriculture industry.
• Many large poultry farms have an attached
hatchery which ensures that the supply of
birds is consistent and steady.
• Hatchery work can be demanding and very
dirty.
• The facilities are usually supervised by
biologists or veterinarians or aqua-culturist
who are familiar with animal husbandry, &
they require a lot work on the ground every
day.
• Workers must ensure that the eggs are
handled safely and properly, and that the
young animals are provided with necessary
nutrition, water, and clean facilities.
• A full time hatchery may constantly have eggs
in incubators at different stages of
development along with young animals which
require monitoring, and this necessitates a
large staff.
• People can also establish a hatchery in their
own homes or small farms, using small
incubators in a scaled-down version of the
commercial hatchery.
• Hatcheries are also sometimes used for
educational purposes, as in classrooms where
children learn about animal husbandry by
hatching and raising chicks and fish.
Chicks are hatched in a hatchery.
Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell
cultures.
What Makes an Ideal Hatchery?
• Several characteristics are needed in the
design of an ideal hatchery to ensure that the
facility is safe, clean, and easy to use.
• A well-designed hatchery will be more
productive, with less risk of loss and more
potential for raising additional stock as the
hatchery's operations expand.
• It should also comply with prevailing laws
which relate to hatcheries and animal
husbandry.
• Hatcheries are used for the purpose of
incubating the eggs of poultry and fish to
hatch live young, and then raising the young
until they are old enough to be sold or
transported to another location.
• Industrial hatcheries operate continuously,
posing serious design challenges because they
must house eggs and young at various stages
of development.
• The design considerations vary, depending on
whether the facility is being used for poultry
or fish.
• In both cases, an ideal hatchery has excellent
ventilation and a design which facilitates
cleaning to keep the space as hygienic as
possible.
• It should include separate areas for incubating
eggs and housing young to reduce the spread
of disease, along with a secure area for storing
feed, and an ample supply of fresh water.
• An ideal hatchery also has clear protocols in
place for workers, such as a ban on passing
between the hatchery and brooding areas to
keep these areas as separate as possible.
• In the area where eggs are incubated and
hatched, there needs to be plenty of space to
move around, along with room to isolate
different species or breeds.
• In a poultry hatchery, different breeds may be
incubated in separate incubators and trays,
while in a fish hatchery, different ponds will be
utilized to keep species separate.
• The space should also be easy to monitor, so
that staff can be alert to developing problems
such as temperature fluctuations or impurities
in the water.
• In the brooding areas where young are taken
out after they have hatched, cleanliness is
critical.
• High volumes of young animals can generate
an astounding amount of waste, and this
waste needs to be collected and disposed of
responsibly.
• Measures also need to be put in place for
feeding and isolating animals to confirm that
they are healthy before allowing them to
mingle with the general population.
• A processing area to get animals ready for
shipment is also an important part of the
design in an ideal hatchery.
• Having space for the animals is obviously key
in an ideal hatchery, but space for humans is
needed as well.
• Hatcheries need to keep extensive records on
the animals they breed, which requires a lot of
office space.
• Many also need to provide some veterinary
services, including basic services such as
measuring and weighing young animals, and
staffers also need a place to change, with
some hatcheries having break rooms and
shower areas as well.
What is a Fish Hatchery?
• A fish hatchery is a facility designed to raise
fish.
• It provides an optimum environment for fish
eggs to develop and hatch by maintaining
proper water temperature and oxygen levels,
and providing adequate food supplies and
safety from predators.
• A fish hatchery works to raise baby fish and
prepare them for release in another
environment for various reasons, as well as for
food.
• Water environments that may be adequate for
adult fish may not be sufficient for breeding,
fish eggs and hatchlings.
• Any number of environmental factors can
cause adults to become infertile.
• Fish eggs and baby fish are a favorite food for
some predators like frogs, turtles and other
fish.
• Some adult fish even eat smaller fish and eggs
of their own species.
• Fish hatcheries resolve these problems.
• One purpose of a fish hatchery is to raise a
certain kind of fish in order to stock a lake or
pond for fishing.
• Certain types of fish, such as trout and
salmon, are favorites among fisherman.
• Sometimes, in a popular fishing hole, the fish
are harvested too quickly to allow them to
breed and grow.
• A fish hatchery provides a safe haven until the
fish are mature enough to be caught.
Fish hatcheries may raise a certain kind of fish
in order to stock a lake.
• Another reason that a certain fish may be
raised in a fish hatchery is for environmental
conservation.
• Every animal has its place in the ecosystem.
• Sometimes, human activity makes it
impossible for fish to breed or causes them to
disappear from a body of water altogether.
• A fish hatchery can reintroduce mature,
healthy fish to a previously inhabited body of
water where they will maintain the ecosystem
by doing their part in the food chain.
• A fish hatchery may also be used to farm fish
for human food consumption.
• Hatching and raising fish for food has many
advantages for humans and the environment.
• First, because of pollution, many wild fish are
contaminated with dangerous pollutants such
as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs).
• Consuming these pollutants is hazardous to
human health.
• Farm raised fish contain lower levels of
contaminants, which helps to reduce this risk.
• Raising fish in a hatchery also helps to relieve
the environmental pressures in an area due to
over-fishing.
• For people’s visual pleasure, a fish hatchery can
raise fish such as koi or other carp and goldfish to
be released into private or garden ponds.
• Ornamental pond fish are hatched and cared for,
then sold to consumers at garden centers and pet
stores.
• Similar to pond fish, tropical fish for aquariums
can also be raised in a fish hatchery.
Fish hatcheries might raise goldfish to sell to people for their
ponds.
A water feature containing ornamental fish.