Day 8: Wayne Sanderson Farms 

(part 1: Hatchery)

Written by:  Abigail

Today we had the opportunity to tour the Wayne Sanderson Hatchery. The hatchery is a large but very clean building that houses thousands of chickens at a time. After we entered the building we took bio- security measures to make sure there's no cross contamination so upon entry we put on a suit that covered our entire body, shoe covers, and a hairnet. These precautions were taken as to keep the chickens as safe as possible while in the facility. 

First we went through their egg cooler where they get thousands of eggs going in and out constantly. The eggs will spend some time in there before being transferred to the incubators. The incubators are set at about 96 degrees and are constantly checked to make sure they maintain a stable temperature. The eggs will stay there for about 19 days on racks that rock back and forth so the chick doesn’t stick to one side of the egg. A lot of the eggs will end up being infertile or will blow up or rot while incubating. This is sadly unavoidable and they will go through and get sorted out to remove all the rotten eggs, infertile, and blown up eggs. They are then vaccinated through a machine that injects the vaccine into the egg, before being put into the hatchery where they finish out. After hatching these birds are then sorted into boxes of 100 through a safe machine. These machines are monitored 24/7 and are filled with alarms and safety precautions to protect the birds. After sorting the birds are then placed on a conveyor belt and vaccinated, with a spray, for a second time and are then stacked by box, placed on a pallet, and shipped out to the chicken house where they spend their lives. The chickens are all checked over for injuries and are monitored constantly to prevent injuries and death. The process is also a quick one and the birds don't travel more then 44 miles from the hatchery to the farm, which helps to keep them from being harmed or stressed. It was so cool to be able to see how this process is done. 

The incubator

The first vaccination is given through the egg shell. Everything is very automated.

Look closely and you will that the chicks are pink! This is the second spray vaccine.