Incubation

Incubation is the maintenance of conditions that allow an egg to develop and hatch. It may be provided by a parent or by an artificial incubator.

Egg temperature: The thermal condition of an egg, which affects the rate and success of embryonic development. Incubation must keep eggs within a suitable thermal range for embryos to develop.
Egg incubator: A device that controls environmental conditions for eggs during embryonic development. It replaces parental care with regulated heat, humidity, and ventilation.
Amniotic egg: A terrestrial vertebrate egg containing membranes that support embryonic development outside water. Its membranes and shell create the protected environment that incubation maintains.
Brooding: Parental behavior that provides warmth or protection to eggs or young. Brooding is a broader form of parental care; incubation specifically concerns development before hatching.
Egg turning: The periodic rotation of an egg during development, performed naturally by parents or mechanically in incubators. Turning helps prevent the developing embryo from adhering to the inner shell membrane.
Poultry farming: The raising of domesticated birds, especially chickens, for meat or eggs. Commercial hatcheries use incubation to hatch large numbers of poultry eggs.
Eggshell: The hard or flexible outer covering of an egg that protects its contents. The shell limits water loss while permitting gas exchange during incubation.
Precociality: A developmental pattern in which young are relatively mobile and independent soon after hatching. Precocial and altricial hatchlings differ in development at hatching, not in whether eggs were incubated.
Eggshell gas exchange: The movement of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor through pores in an eggshell. Incubation requires ventilation that supplies oxygen while allowing carbon dioxide to escape.
Captive breeding: The controlled reproduction of animals in human-managed environments. Artificial incubation can help hatch eggs when natural nesting is impractical or unsuccessful.

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