Global Guide to Best Practices in Air Transport of Hatching Eggs, Day-Old Chicks, Poults and Ducklings

I. PREPARATION AND TRANSPORT OF HEG HEG contain embryos that are living animals. They are very sensitive to rough handling and temperature extremes and fluctuations. Improper handling can cause an embryo to die within the shell. The result is a loss in hatchability of the eggs. A cracked or broken egg is useless for hatching purposes. HEG are live cargo that is perishable and valuable. HEG should be shipped without delay as any delay reduces the hatchability and quality of the end product. At the breeder farm At the source breeder farm, the manager and staff take special care to adhere to all biosecurity measures to avoid disease and contamination of the HEG before they are hatched. Biosecurity measures are set up to implement hygiene standards at all levels of production in order to prevent the entry of undesirable organisms, including farm pests and micro-organisms, and to manage the animal health, including the microbiological condition of the flocks of origin and the eggs produced. Regular inspections take place at the farm level to ensure health certificate requirements are met. Temperature and humidity are carefully controlled at the farm before the eggs are picked up to avoid unnecessary stress to the embryo before hatching. Packing of the HEG HEG are collected from the poultry house and placed on specific plastic or paper egg trays which are then packed in specially designed, clean and strengthened shipping cases or pallets. To maintain quality the HEG are packed small end down, so it is essential that egg cases are transported the correct way up. All egg cases are stacked in an alternating pattern on pallets to keep the HEG from being jarred or from shifting during transportation. HEG MUST ALWAYS BE LOADED IN A LEVEL POSITION AND STACKED IN A LEVELMANNER 4