Egyptian Incubators Hatched Thousands Efficiently

Ancient Egyptians developed brick-and-mud egg incubators during the Ptolemaic period, after chickens became a staple of the Egyptian diet in the fourth century B.C. By controlling heat and moisture and regularly turning the eggs, workers could hatch as many as 4,500 fertilized eggs in just two to three weeks. In 2006, experts from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found farmers in three Egyptian governorates still using the ancient system, with an estimated 200 ovens operating according to the survey. Hatchery workers passed the technique down orally for more than 2,000 years and continued checking egg temperatures by pressing them against their eyelids, although petrol lamps had replaced burning animal dung.

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