A step programme in the hatcher means lowering the temperature to get the damper open. Timing is everything - the step process needs to be completed before the chicks overheat but if the steps down are premature then the chicks will run too cool. Monitoring chick temperatures will tell you exactly when to start. Remember that step programmes are designed to keep chicks from overheating not to cool them down.
How do we know our profiles are set up properly? We monitor hatch of fertile and chick quality per machine. This tells us how good a job we are doing with the
fertile eggs we have. If we do not keep and use records then it will be impossible to fine tune operations and achieve optimum performance.
Remember there is a cause and effect for everything we do inside an incubator. Everything we do is to optimise broiler performance. The more we know about incubation and embryonic development, the easier it will be to determine and manage profiles. Our goal is to achieve good hatch efficiency with the best
quality at all times.