Webinar on on-farm hatching

– by Angélique Travel, Yann Guyot (ACTA/ITAVI) and Anne Collin (INRAE)

Hatching chicks directly on the farm is a concept that respects animal welfare and is gaining ground in Europe. The principle is to transport the eggs 3 days before hatching, so that the chicks are born on the farm without human intervention and have access to water and feed as soon as they hatch. On-farm hatching systems currently available in the field differ in terms of equipment layout and degree of automation.  This new approach to rearing poultry enables us to secure the health and performance of the birds, while ensuring their well-being. On November 30, 2023, ITAVI, LIT Ouesterel and INRAE organized, with the support of Carnot FE2 and the PPILOW project, an exclusive webinar entirely dedicated to the practice of on-farm hatching. Attended by over 120 participants, the conference enabled researchers to present the results of ground-breaking trials revealing the concrete advantages of the on-farm hatching technique, in both conventional and free-range or organic rearing. Farmers were then able to testify of their experience with different systems they use to hatch their chicks. Watch the replay of the webinar in French (1H30).