Chicken eggs are commonly incubated for
17 to 18 d in setters, after which they are transferred to
the hatchery for the last 3 to 4 d of incubation. Whereas
eggs are positioned vertically with the air cell up
during the first incubation phase, they are placed horizontally
for the hatching phase. It is unknown whether
egg position in the last phase of incubation is of importance
to the hatching process and chick quality. An
experiment was conducted to investigate effects of egg
position in the last 4 d of incubation on the hatching
process and chick quality. The experiment consisted of
2 identical trials, where 300 fertile eggs per trial were
transferred to a hatching cabinet at embryo day 17.
Eggs were placed in 1 of 3 positions: with the air cell up
(ACU), with the air cell down, or horizontally (HOR)