Incubase User and Methodological Manual

1. Purpose of the Application

Incubase is an open platform for recording, analysing and sharing data on the incubation of bird eggs. It provides a consistent way to maintain information about eggs, incubators, the course and outcome of incubation, and related species information.

The purpose of the application is to turn operational incubation records into structured data that can be used not only for current hatchery work, but also for long-term evaluation, comparison and sharing of experience. Incubase is more than an electronic logbook. It continuously calculates derived characteristics from the records entered, such as estimated initial weight, daily weight loss and conductance. It then aggregates these values across eggs of the same species and derives recommended humidity settings or suggestions for optimising incubator conditions.

How does it do this? The application uses the species, dimensions, initial weight, laying or incubation start date, successive weight measurements, temperature, humidity and available species statistics. From these inputs it can assess whether a particular egg in a particular incubator is losing weight at an appropriate rate, how its progress differs from the available data for successful or unsuccessful incubations, and which humidity setting would better match the target weight loss.

A major advantage is that incubation progress is not compared only with your own records. With a suitable access mode, data from individual breeding facilities can contribute to aggregated species statistics and to Incupedia, the incubation encyclopaedia. This is particularly important for rarely kept, difficult-to-breed or endangered species, for which few cases are available and practical experience is often spread across several institutions. Standardised records make it possible to compare this experience and gradually turn it into useful methodological recommendations.

Incubase also facilitates collaboration among breeders, curators, institutions and scientists. It gives breeders and institutions a clear tool for managing hatcheries and data. It enables researchers to find available datasets, contact data providers and work with information that would otherwise be difficult to collect. The platform can therefore serve both the operational needs of animal husbandry and professional or scientific analyses of bird-egg incubation.

1.1 Who Incubase Is For

For breeders, Incubase is a working tool for maintaining incubation records. It enables them to:

• record, monitor and analyse the incubation of individual eggs,

• monitor their weight continuously,

• obtain recommendations for incubator settings,

• compare their own data with available records from other breeding facilities.

For curators and institutions, Incubase is a data management and quality-control tool. It helps them to:

• keep hatchery operations organised,

• keep egg, incubator and outcome data in one place,

• create reports and exports,

• prepare evidence-based methodological guidelines,

• decide which data will be shared with other users or the scientific community.

For scientists, Incubase is a source of standardised datasets that are often difficult to obtain. It enables them to:

• include species that are under-represented in the literature in their research,

• connect primary husbandry data with questions in reproductive biology, physiology, behavioural ecology and the conservation of endangered species.

1.2 Main Objectives of the Application

The main objectives of the application are to:

• retain information about every egg as clear, traceable data,
• standardise incubation records among breeders, zoos, rescue centres, research facilities and other institutions,
• minimise incomplete records caused by using separate notebooks, local spreadsheets or partial notes,
• minimise data-entry errors,
• continuously analyse incubation progress and flag values that deviate from the expected course,
• help assess whether an egg is losing weight at an appropriate rate for its species, incubation stage and target weight loss,
• recommend humidity based on the current condition of a particular egg and the current or specified conditions,
• suggest a more suitable incubator humidity setting or the transfer of eggs between incubators,
• enable selected data to be shared securely under the configured licensing and access modes,
• develop Incupedia as a continuously updated species-level overview of bird incubation,
• support the development of evidence-based methods for breeding and incubating difficult-to-breed or endangered species,
• connect data providers with scientists and specialists who can use the data to investigate broader biological relationships,
• improve hatching success, rearing quality and the conservation value of husbandry experience for birds in human care over the long term.

2. Basic Concepts

3. Registration and Creating an Institution

A user account is required to enter and manage incubation data, work with non-public parts of the database, submit data-access requests and use Incubase internal functions. Without registering, users can view publicly available aggregate outputs, especially Incupedia. During registration, users decide whether to use the application without institutional membership, request membership in an existing institution, or create a new institution.

3.1 Registering a User Account

Select Register on the home page. The form creates a personal user account; access rights to institutional data then depend on the selected institution and membership status.

• Full name: identifies the user.
• Email: must be unique in the database; it is also used for notifications, communication with administrators and password recovery.
• Username: a unique account name. You can sign in with either the username or email address.
• Password and password confirmation: both fields are required and the entered values must match.
• Institution: determines the account default mode; you can select limited access without an institution, apply for membership, or create a new institution.
• User photograph: an optional profile image in JPG, JPEG, PNG or GIF format.
• Preferred language: determines the default language of the user interface and email correspondence. Czech and English are available.
• Terms of Use: consent is required to complete registration.
• Email information about Incubase development: separate, optional consent to receive news and important updates.

Fig. 1. Registration form.

Before submitting, check the email address and institution selection in particular. The email address is important for password recovery and messages about membership approval or rejection. The institution selection determines whether operational data can be entered immediately after registration or whether administrator approval is required first.

3.2 Selecting an Institution During Registration

The Institution field offers three distinct options:

• View-only mode (no institution): the account is not a member of any breeding institution. The user can view data available under its access mode, but cannot add or manage eggs and incubators. The user can later apply to join an existing institution or create one.
• Existing institution: registration creates a request to join. The account remains in view-only mode and the request is marked as pending until an administrator decides. Administrators of the selected institution are notified and must approve or reject membership. Once approved, the user can see and edit all of the institution data and add further records.
• Add a new institution: fields for the new institution appear in the form. After they are completed, the institution is created, the founder's membership is approved automatically, and the founder becomes an administrator of the institution.

If the institution is already listed, do not create a duplicate. Select the existing record and request membership. Users should apply for membership only when they are authorised to work with that institution's data.

3.3 Creating a New Institution

An institution does not have to be a legal entity. In Incubase, an institutional profile can represent a zoo, rescue centre, research facility, breeding facility or private breeder who owns or provides the recorded data.

After selecting Add a new institution, the following fields are added to the registration form:

• New institution name: the required name displayed with users, eggs, incubators and shared data. Use a clear, commonly used name.
• Latitude and longitude: optional coordinates of the institution registered office or workplace, entered in decimal degrees.
• Elevation: an optional value in metres for the location of the institution or incubation facility.
• New institution data-sharing mode: the required default rule governing how other users may view and reuse the institution data.

The coordinates and elevation describe the institution or the facility where its incubators are located, not the laying location of an individual egg. The laying location is recorded separately on the egg page. The institution administrator can later change its name and sharing mode under Institution Management.

3.4 Institution Data-Sharing Modes

The sharing mode is configured for the institution as a whole and determines how other institutions and users may work with its primary data. An individual egg cannot be placed in a separate, permanently private mode. The egg form only allows immediate publication or a delay of 3, 6 or 12 months.

• Private: individual primary records are not shown to other users without approved access. The existence of published data may be reflected in anonymised species summaries, and the application allows users to request access to data for the species concerned. Published eggs from an institution in this mode contribute to aggregate statistics and visualisations in Incupedia unless they have delayed publication and are therefore temporarily withheld.
• View only: published eggs can be found in the overview, but their details cannot be opened or exported without approved sharing. The access icon can be used to ask the provider for extended access. Without prior agreement, the data may not be used beyond ordinary viewing in Incubase or published.
• Cite: the data may also be used for other professional or scientific purposes, provided that the source is properly credited.

When selecting a mode, consider whether the data is intended only for internal records, professional viewing, or also for further analyses and publications. An administrator can change the mode later, but the change affects access to all data belonging to the institution. Detailed conditions of use are always governed by the current Incubase Terms of Use.

3.5 Completing Registration and Approving Membership

After the form is submitted successfully, the account is created and the user can sign in with the selected password and either the username or email address. What happens next depends on the institution selection:

• No institution: the account is active in view-only mode and can subsequently submit a request to join an institution.
• Request to join an existing institution: membership awaits an administrator decision. Institutional eggs and incubators cannot be entered before approval. Once approved, the user is assigned to the institution; if rejected, the user remains without an institution.
• New institution: the institution and membership are created immediately, and after signing in the founder can manage its profile, members and data.

A user with a pending request can check its status under Institutions and, if necessary, change the target institution. An administrator of the relevant institution approves or rejects the request. The user may be notified of the result by email.

3.6 Responsibilities of a New Institution Administrator

The founder of a new institution becomes its administrator. This role is more than a technical permission: the administrator is responsible for ensuring that members are authorised to work with institutional data and that the selected sharing method reflects the data provider's decision. The administrator must:

• manage the institution name and data-sharing mode;
• approve or reject user membership requests;
• keep the list of members and their permissions up to date;
• process requests from other users or institutions for access to data;
• ensure that data entered on behalf of the institution is accurate, lawful and duly authorised;
• ensure that records do not contain personal or sensitive information that should not be shared in the database.

Before starting to keep records, check the institution name, selected sharing mode and members who will enter data. This prevents duplicate institutional profiles and records being entered under the wrong provider.

4. Roles and Data Access

Permissions in Incubase are based on a combination of institutional membership and system role. Eggs, incubators and related operational records are assigned to an institution, not to an individual user account. A private breeder can also constitute an institution.

4.1 Access Levels

The application distinguishes the following practical access levels:

• Unregistered visitor: can view publicly available parts of the application, especially aggregate outputs in Incupedia. Visitors cannot enter operational data or request access to non-public datasets.
• Registered user without an institution: works in view-only mode. The user can view data available under its access mode and apply to join an institution, but cannot add or edit eggs and incubators.
• Regular institution member: has approved membership and the User system role. Members can enter and manage eggs, progress records and incubators belonging to their institution. Permission applies to the institution as a whole, not only to records they created personally.
• Institution administrator: has the same access to the institution's operational data as a member and also manages the institutional profile, sharing mode, membership requests, member list and requests from other users for data access. The administrator role can be transferred to another member. In this manual, institution manager and institution administrator refer to the same role.

4.2 Implications for Private Breeders

A user who wants to record their own eggs and incubators must belong to an institution. They do not always need to create a new one: they can apply for membership in an existing organisation or breeding facility. A person working independently can create an institutional profile, for example under the name of their breeding operation, and become its administrator.

An account without an institution therefore has no dedicated area for eggs and incubators. In the user interface, the phrase own eggs usually means eggs belonging to the user's institution, not records reserved for a single account. Members of the same institution work with a shared institutional dataset.

4.3 Access to Data from Other Institutions

Institutional membership grants the right to manage that institution's own operational data. Access to primary data from other institutions is governed by their institutional sharing mode, any publication delay applied to particular eggs, and individually approved requests or sharing arrangements. Being an administrator of one institution does not grant the right to edit another institution's data.

4.4 Delayed Publication and Species Statistics

All entered eggs, regardless of the institution mode, form the basis for shared species statistics. The current form does not allow individual eggs to be excluded from these statistics permanently. When entering an egg, however, the user can delay publication by 3, 6 or 12 months. An egg with a publication date in the future is temporarily excluded from species statistics.

Once the publication date is reached, the egg may begin contributing to species statistics and its primary record becomes accessible under the institution sharing mode. Setting the entire institution to Private restricts other users from seeing primary data, but does not by itself exclude its eggs from aggregate statistics. Aggregate statistics do not expose individual primary records.

5. Data Displayed in the Application

This section explains the user-facing meaning of the main parts of the application.

5.1 Home Page

The home page is the public entry point to Incubase. It appears when the application base address is opened or the Incubase name and logo in the upper-left corner are selected. It is available to both signed-in and anonymous visitors.

The page presents the platform's purpose, main functions and benefits for breeders, curators and researchers. It contains an introductory video, a brief workflow, information about the authors and partner organisations, contact details and further project information. The public navigation provides access to Incupedia, sign-in, new-account registration and the interface language selector.

Finding a species. A search box appears at the top of the home page. After entering at least two characters, you can search by the scientific, Czech or English name of a species or subspecies, and by family or order. The results contain species for which at least one egg is recorded in the database; this is not a complete list of all species kept in zoos.

Fig. 2. Species search.

After a species is selected, its species page opens directly on the home page. Depending on data availability, it may show:

• the scientific, Czech and English names, family, order and, where applicable, IUCN category,
• an egg photograph with the photographer credited, if available,
• the number of recorded eggs, the number and proportion of fertilized eggs, and the number and success rate of hatched eggs,
• the recommended incubation temperature and relative humidity, if they can be derived from the available data,
• summaries of egg length, width, weight and volume, and incubation-period length,
• weight loss, shown separately for successfully hatched eggs and eggs in which the embryo died,
• a laying-timing chart and an incubation-progress chart, if enough data exists to create them.

Counts, percentages, ranges and charts are aggregate outputs calculated from eggs already published by participating institutions. These summaries may also include data from institutions in Private mode without disclosing individual primary records. If there is insufficient data for an output, the page shows a missing value or explains why the calculation could not be performed.

Fig. 3. Species page.

Requesting access to species data. Signed-in users see a Request access to species data button in the species-page header. The button is not available to anonymous visitors.

When the button is selected, the application checks whether other institutions already have published eggs of the selected species in Private or View-only mode. If such data exists, a form opens in which the applicant states the intended use. The request is then sent to the administrators of the relevant institutions. Submitting a request does not itself grant access; the data provider decides whether to make the data available and under what conditions.

5.2 Dashboard

The Dashboard (the “User” tab) appears immediately after sign-in and provides a quick operational overview. It primarily shows:

• the user identity with a link to user-profile management,
• counts of the institution's own records,
• the most recently added or edited eggs,
• the latest questions in the discussion forum,
• incoming and outgoing data-access requests,
• pending requests for institutional membership,
• an egg-care summary: the total number of eggs, fertilized eggs and hatched eggs, and the number of known females.

The Dashboard is an at-a-glance overview. Detailed information is available in the egg overview and egg pages, the incubator overview and incubator pages, and the species pages in Incupedia.

Fig. 4. User dashboard.

5.3 Egg Overview

The Egg Overview (the “Eggs” tab) is used to search, check and navigate data in bulk. It typically contains tabs for the user's institution's eggs and for the wider egg database to which the user has access.

For eggs belonging to the user's institution, the overview offers Basic, Simple, Incubation and Complete views; for accessible eggs belonging to other institutions, it offers Basic and Complete views. Depending on the selected view, the columns primarily contain:

• identification: egg ID and scientific species name; the complete overview also shows the user for the institution's own eggs or the institution for other eggs,
• description: length, width, anomaly, parent identifiers, clutch, egg order and notes, depending on the selected view,
• dates and times: laying, finding, start of cooling, natural and artificial incubation, transfer to the hatcher, end of incubation and hatching,
• outcome: fertilization and reason for ending incubation,
• operational information in the basic overview: the incubator from the latest progress record,
• derived quantities, the weight time series and humidity recommendations are available only on the page for a particular egg; the egg overview does not display them separately,
• access: an icon for the institutional mode; a publication delay is shown on the institution's own egg page until the delay expires.

The overview allows eggs to be filtered using both full-text search and categories in individual columns, dates, or even logical queries (for example, >50 or 10-50 in the Length and Width columns). The filtered data can be exported to an “xlsx” file using the button at the bottom right. The egg page is decisive for methodological interpretation because it shows the record time series and the context for the calculations.

Colour coding of egg identifiers

• Egg IDGreen: the egg is recorded as active, has at least one usable time value, and has not exceeded the time limit derived from the species incubation period.
• Egg IDRed: the egg has no recorded final outcome, but more than 130% of the expected species incubation period has elapsed since the earliest available date. If no species period is available, a fallback limit of 70 days is used.
• Egg IDGrey: the egg has hatched, has another final outcome (such as death, lack of fertilization, freezing or an outcome stated in the notes), or has no date by which its status can be assessed over time.

A red identifier warns of a potentially unfinished or outdated record; it is not an automatic conclusion about the biological state of the egg. Time is measured from the earliest available date among laying, collection, cooling, the start of natural or artificial incubation, transfer to the hatcher and the end of incubation. The default overview order gives priority to active eggs.

Fig. 5. Egg overview.

5.4 Egg Page

The egg page is the main workspace for a particular egg. It shows:

• basic identification details,
• the scientific species name,
• parent information, if provided,
• egg dimensions,
• the directly measured initial weight, if a weighing exists at the exact time of laying; the model-based and Hoyt estimates are used in calculations but are not displayed here as separate fields,
• the dates of laying, collection and start of incubation, and the hatching date where applicable,
• fertilization and incubation outcome,
• incubation progress history,
• incubator assignment at each point in time,
• derived characteristics calculated by the system (such as daily weight loss),
• charts or analytical outputs, if available,
• a humidity recommendation for the individual egg.

Fig. 6. Egg description.

The incubation-progress table primarily records:

• record date and time,
• current egg weight, or chick weight where applicable,
• incubator identifier,
• whether the egg was cooled or candled,
• estimated stage of development,
• the number of times the egg was turned manually each day,
• the measured embryonic heart rate,
• the type of egg handling (such as sealing or puncturing),
• the reason for incubation and the reason for ending incubation,
• notes.

The user enters observed information in a progress record. The application calculates daily weight loss, conductance, percentage weight loss and the conditions during the preceding period. Temperature and humidity are not entered in the progress form; the application derives them from the time history of maintenance records for the relevant incubator.

Fig. 7. Incubation progress and analysis.

Data can be edited at any time during incubation and after it ends. Egg details are edited with the “Edit egg” button at the end of the upper section, while incubation-progress records are edited with the “Edit” button in the “Actions” column of the records table.

5.5 Incubator Overview

The incubator overview shows the operating status of the equipment. It mainly uses the following data:

• incubator identifier,
• current occupancy,
• last known temperature,
• last known relative humidity,
• maintenance records (days since the last disinfection and filter replacement),
• notes.

Colour coding of incubator identifiers

• Incubator IDGreen: according to the latest maintenance record, the incubator is operating and both disinfection and filter replacement have been recorded within their configured intervals.
• Incubator IDYellow: the incubator is operating, but a disinfection or filter-replacement record is missing, or at least one configured maintenance interval has been exceeded.
• Incubator IDGrey: according to the latest record, the incubator has been taken out of service, or it has no maintenance record from which its operating status can be determined.

If a custom interval is not configured, the application uses a default limit of 7 days for disinfection and 14 days for filter replacement. The colour assesses operating and maintenance status; it does not by itself assess the suitability of the temperature, humidity or incubator occupancy.

Fig. 8. Incubator overview.

The following values are also entered when registering a new incubator:

• incubator type,
• capacity expressed as the maximum number of average-sized chicken eggs; the application does not distinguish egg sizes, so users must convert the capacity to a suitable equivalent themselves,
• minimum achievable humidity (depending on the incubator type and ambient environment),
• disinfection interval (used to alert users when maintenance is due),
• filter-replacement interval (likewise).

For transfer optimisation, capacity is treated simply as a maximum number of eggs: the number of assigned active eggs is subtracted from capacity regardless of their dimensions. The minimum achievable humidity pre-fills the lower optimisation limit on an individual incubator page. If an egg is being incubated under unsuitable conditions and its weight loss is too low, it can still be compensated above this limit. Below it, techniques for increasing water-vapour permeability, such as shell perforation, must be considered. Batch optimisation of all incubators uses a common user-defined limit set in the form (0% by default), while transfer optimisation does not use the recorded minimum incubator humidity.

These parameters can be viewed and edited on the incubator page, which opens by selecting the incubator name in the overview. As with eggs, successive incubator-setting and maintenance records can be added. Each record contains:

• maintenance date and time,
• current temperature and humidity,
• turning frequency and duration per day,
• cooling frequency and duration per day,
• whether the maintenance included disinfection or filter replacement, or whether the incubator was switched off and taken out of service.

The incubator page also allows humidity optimisation to be run for the eggs currently in the incubator. The optimisation output typically contains:

• the proposed relative humidity,
• the number of eggs included,
• eggs excluded from the calculation because of missing data,
• eggs whose estimated final weight loss at the optimum humidity still differs from the target weight loss by more than the selected tolerance (“deviation threshold”),

• the size of these deviations in percentage points of weight loss.

Fig. 9. Incubator humidity optimisation and maintenance records.

5.6 Optimisation Across Incubators

The incubator overview offers the option to optimise humidity for all incubators at once. This runs the same procedure in a batch as described above for an individual incubator page. Egg-allocation optimisation is another useful option available in the adjacent panel of the same window.

Allocation optimisation compares eggs across operating incubators. The algorithm first leaves in place any eggs whose extrapolated weight loss is within the specified tolerance of the target. It processes the remaining eggs one by one, giving priority to those with the fewest suitable incubators. For each egg, it selects the free-capacity incubator at the same temperature whose humidity is closest to the egg's individual requirement and improves on its current placement. It then tests whether swapping pairs of eggs can improve the result further. The output consists of proposed transfers and an improvement expressed in percentage points as the reduction in the median absolute deviation between expected and target weight loss. The user assesses and carries out any physical transfer.

Fig. 10. Optimisation of egg allocation among incubators.

5.7 Incupedia and Species Pages

Incupedia is an incubation encyclopaedia that makes it easy to browse species pages organised clearly by taxonomy. It presents available species-level incubation data, offers insight into their incubation characteristics and is intended as a foundation for developing a hatching strategy. It shows:

• scientific name,
• Czech or English name, if available,
• taxonomic classification by family and order,
• IUCN Red List category,
• numbers of recorded eggs,
• numbers and percentages of fertilized and hatched eggs,
• recommended incubation temperature (the arithmetic mean of preceding-period temperatures for records from eggs marked as hatched),
• recommended incubator humidity (the optimum humidity calculated at the start of incubation for the recommended temperature),
• weighted mean weight loss of hatched eggs and eggs in which the embryo died (weighted by the length of the observation period),
• arithmetic means of egg dimensions and initial weight,
• arithmetic mean of egg volume,
• the reference incubation period from the literature (Birdbase database; Şekercioğlu et al., 2025) and the incubation period estimated from Incubase data.

Incupedia combines reference information (taxonomy, IUCN Red List category and reference incubation period) with calculated data (all other values). Calculated data is derived exclusively from published records in the application. In addition to the information described above, Incupedia contains charts showing laying timing and incubation progress for all published eggs. You can move between Incupedia pages with the keyboard arrow keys or the arrows at the sides of the application's main panel.

6. Data Used in Calculations

Calculations have variants based on the available inputs. The application uses a fixed order of sources and fallback values. For example, optimum-humidity calculations require a target weight loss for successfully hatched eggs. If the user does not enter a custom value, it is estimated from the species-level weighted mean for successful eggs. If that is also unavailable, a fixed value of 15% is used. The following table summarises the inputs for each calculation:

Table 1. Quantities and data required for calculations.

7. Recalculations and Statistics Updates

The application recalculates values after an egg is created or edited and after an incubation-progress record is added or edited. Calculations run outside the form itself and may appear after a short delay.

7.1 Recalculating an Individual Egg

The following values are calculated for an individual egg:

• egg volume,
• weight estimate from dimensions,
• initial-weight estimate from the weighing history,
• daily weight loss,
• percentage of the incubation period elapsed,
• conductance,
• percentage weight loss extrapolated to the effective incubation window,
• recommended humidity,

7.2 Recalculating Species Statistics

Species statistics are calculated from eggs assigned to the canonical species. Where synonymous names or subspecies links are associated with the principal species, statistics combine them using the internal species identifier. The taxonomy used in the application is based on “The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World” (Clements et al., 2025), extended with synonyms and selected hybrid species.

Among user-configurable settings, delayed egg publication can temporarily prevent inclusion in species statistics. Such an egg remains available to members of its own institution, but is not shown to other institutions or reflected in Incupedia data until the specified date. Once the delay expires, the sharing mode configured for the institution takes effect.

8. Egg Biometric Calculations

Notation Used in Formulas

The formulas use the following consistent notation:

• L = egg length in mm,
• B = egg width in mm,
• V = egg volume in cm³,
• W₀ = initial egg weight in g,
• W_t = current egg weight in g,
• W_t−1 = previous egg weight in g,
• Δt = time between two measurements in days,
• IP = incubation period in days,
• IP_eff = effective incubation period,
• t_ink = current incubation time in days,
• T = temperature in °C,
• RH = relative humidity as a percentage,
• P_sat(T) = saturation vapour pressure at temperature T,
• G = egg conductance,
• C = target weight loss as a percentage.

8.1 Egg Volume

Volume is calculated from egg length and width:

\[V = 0,51 \cdot \frac{L \cdot B^{2}}{1000}\]

The result is an approximate volume in cm*³*. The coefficient 0.51 comes from a commonly used empirical relationship for bird eggs.

8.2 Hoyt Weight Estimate

If no reliable initial weight is available, the application estimates it from the dimensions:

\[W_{Hoyt} = 0,54 \cdot \frac{L \cdot B^{2}}{1000}\]

For an individual egg, this may be less accurate than an actual weighing shortly after laying or an estimate based on successive weighings (see below).

8.3 Estimating Initial Weight from Successive Weighings

When at least two weight records are available, the application estimates initial weight from the time series. If a weighing exists at exactly zero incubation time, its weight is used. Otherwise, the average daily loss multiplied by the incubation time of the earliest usable weighing is added to that weighing.

Rules:

• at least two usable weighings and a time baseline from the laying date, start of artificial incubation or start of natural incubation are required,
• daily losses are calculated only from pairs at least 12 hours apart, and changes exceeding 60% of the weight are ignored,
• the estimate has a lower bound equal to the highest measured weight; if it falls below that value, a sufficiently high Hoyt estimate is used, otherwise the highest measurement is used and the timeline is shifted so that this measurement corresponds to day 0.

The estimate from successive weighings depends on the selected time baseline and weighing quality. For individual calculations it takes precedence over the Hoyt estimate derived from egg dimensions. An actual initial weight, recognised when a weighing exactly matches the stored laying date and time, always takes precedence over the predicted and Hoyt values. If none of these values can be determined, calculations requiring initial weight are not performed.

9. Incubation Time and Incubation Period

9.1 Incubation Time for an Individual Egg

Incubation time is the number of days from a baseline date to a particular progress record. The baseline date is selected in this order:

1. laying date,
2. start date of artificial incubation (the “Start of artificial incubation” field),
3. start date of natural incubation (the “Start of natural incubation” field), if neither the laying date nor the start of artificial incubation is present.

This order applies to the individual egg timeline used for automatic recalculation (after any new information is added or edited), the individual humidity recommendation and both optimisations. If a laying date is present, it takes precedence even when marked as an estimate in the form. Automatic recalculation requires at least one progress record on or after the baseline date. If all records precede it, the application does not determine incubation time. Recommendation and optimisation calculations do not perform the same check, however, so an incorrectly entered future baseline date can produce a negative incubation time and distort the result.

These three options are therefore not a universal rule for every calculation. Daily weight loss uses only the date and time of a pair of weighings. The observed species incubation period strictly requires a laying date marked as exact and a hatching date; neither start of artificial nor natural incubation replaces it. The species weight-loss summary uses the laying date or, if missing, the finding date; it does not use incubation start dates, and the calculation itself does not check whether the laying date is exact. Laying seasonality uses the laying date, otherwise the finding date. Actual initial weight is recognised only when a weighing time exactly matches the stored laying time.

9.2 Species Incubation Period

The incubation period is used to determine the stage of development, calculate weight loss and perform optimisations. The application looks it up in this order:

1. a value entered by the user in Incubation Analysis on the egg page,
2. the reference minimum and maximum taken from the Birdbase database (Şekercioğlu et al., 2025),
3. an estimate from data entered in Incubase,
4. the median species period within the same family,
5. if none of the above is available in Incubation Analysis on the egg page, the preset value of 30 days.

If both the reference minimum and maximum are used, their mean is used:

\[IP = \frac{IP_{\min} + IP_{\max}}{2}\]

Optimisations use 96 percent of the incubation period:

\[IP_{eff} = 0,96 \cdot IP\]

This models the main period of water loss up to the final hatching stage.

9.3 Estimating the Incubation Period from Incubase Data

The incubation-period estimate from Incubase data, also called the observed incubation period, is calculated as the difference between the hatching date and the exact laying date. The code does not check the reason for ending incubation, so the determining factors are the presence of both dates (which automatically means that the egg hatched) and the exact-laying-date flag, not the user-entered Hatched value:

\[IP_{obs} = d_{hatch} - d_{lay}\]

The median observed period, rather than the simple mean, is stored in the database. The minimum and maximum are stored as well. Eggs without an exact laying date are not used for this value because they would distort incubation length.

10. Daily Weight Loss

Daily weight loss shows how much weight an egg loses per day. It is calculated from the difference between two weighings:

\[\Delta m_{day} = \frac{W_{t - 1} - W_{t}}{\Delta t} \cdot 1000\]

Methodological rules:

• the previous weighing must be at least 12 hours before the current one,
• an extreme weight difference, such as a change of more than 60%, is treated as a measurement error and is not used,
• negative loss is set to 0 because it most often reflects noise, a weighing error or different measurement conditions,
• the more regular and accurate the weighings, the more stable the result.

Daily weight loss is one of the most important inputs for estimating conductance, recommending humidity and performing optimisation.

11. Temperature and Humidity During the Preceding Period

For every progress record from the second one onward, the application estimates the mean temperature and humidity in the interval since the preceding record. The user does not enter these quantities in the progress form.

• The source is the incubator maintenance records that apply within the relevant time interval.
• The interval is split whenever a setting changes, and the latest setting known at the start of each subinterval is used for that segment.
• If there is insufficient setting history, the derived temperature or humidity remains blank and downstream calculations may fail.

If incubator settings change between two weighing records, the application calculates a time-weighted mean. A setting in effect for 20 hours therefore influences the mean more than one in effect for 2 hours.

In general:

\[\bar{x} = \frac{\sum_{j = 1}^{n}x_{j} \cdot \Delta t_{j}}{\sum_{j = 1}^{n}\Delta t_{j}}\]

Here, x_j is the temperature or humidity during a subinterval and Δt_j is the length of that subinterval.

Example:

• humidity was 45% for 18 hours,
• humidity was 60% for 6 hours,
• the time-weighted mean is (18 × 45 + 6 × 60) / 24 = 48.75%.

This principle is important for calculating conductance. The humidity at a single moment might not represent the actual conditions between two weighings.

12. Egg Conductance

Conductance expresses the permeability of the eggshell to water vapour. Put simply, it describes how quickly weight is lost at a given temperature and humidity.

The calculation uses:

• daily weight loss in mg/day,
• temperature,
• relative humidity,
• saturation vapour pressure at the given temperature.

First, saturation vapour pressure is calculated from temperature. The difference between water-vapour pressure at the egg surface and in the incubator is then determined. In simplified notation:

\[P_{inc} = P_{sat}(T) \cdot \frac{RH}{100}\]

\[\Delta P = P_{sat}(T) - P_{inc} = P_{sat}(T) \cdot \left( 1 - \frac{RH}{100} \right)\]

\[G = \frac{\Delta m_{day}}{\Delta P} = \frac{\Delta m_{day}}{P_{sat}(T) \cdot \left( 1 - \frac{RH}{100} \right)}\]

Where:

• G is conductance,
• P_sat(T) is saturation vapour pressure at temperature T,
• P_inc is the partial pressure of water vapour in the incubator,
• ΔP is the difference in partial pressures,
• RH is relative humidity as a percentage.

The units used are mg of water per Torr per day. Higher conductance means that under the same conditions the egg loses weight more quickly.

Reliable conductance calculation requires:

• at least two meaningful weighings,
• the time between weighings,
• temperature during the preceding period,
• humidity during the preceding period.

During incubator optimisation, missing conductance derived from the latest interval can be replaced with the arithmetic species mean. Although this does not provide the most precise recommendation, it is generally better than excluding the egg entirely. An individual humidity recommendation, however, requires conductance derived from the progress of that particular egg.

13. Weight Loss and Target Weight Loss

During incubation, weight loss is used as a proxy for the amount of water evaporated. The application works with current, extrapolated and target weight loss.

13.1 Current Weight Loss

Current weight loss is based on the difference between initial and current weight:

\[M_{lost} = \left( W_{0} - W_{t} \right) \cdot 1000\]

Here, W₀ is initial weight and W_t is current weight.

13.2 Extrapolated Percentage Weight Loss

Daily loss can be used to estimate the percentage of weight the egg would lose over the effective incubation period:

\[L_{rate} = \frac{\Delta m_{day} \cdot 0,001}{W_{0}} \cdot IP_{eff} \cdot 100\]

This value does not state the total weight the egg has lost so far. It states the loss corresponding to its current rate when projected over the effective incubation period.

13.3 Target Weight Loss

Target weight loss is the percentage the egg should approach by the end of the effective incubation window. The application obtains it in this order:

1. the value entered by the user in the egg recommendation,
2. the mean loss of successfully hatched eggs of the species,
3. 15%.

15% is only a general default value commonly used in breeding practice.

14. Recommended Humidity for an Individual Egg

A humidity recommendation can be calculated in Incubation Analysis on the egg page. It is intended to answer the question:

At the specified temperature, what relative humidity should enable the egg to reach its target weight loss from its current state?

14.1 Recommendation Inputs

The user can enter:

• minimum permitted humidity,
• desired temperature,
• target weight loss,
• a custom incubation period.

If these values are not entered, the application uses the following defaults:

• form temperature: the current incubator's latest setting, otherwise the latest calculated progress temperature, and 37.2 °C if neither is available,
• minimum achievable incubator humidity: 25%, which the user may change within the range 0–100%,
• target weight loss: the mean species weight loss for successful eggs, otherwise 15%,
• incubation period: according to the order described in the incubation-period section.

14.2 Calculating Recommended Humidity

Calculation procedure:

1. Determine initial weight W₀.
2. Take current weight W_t.
3. Calculate the weight the egg has lost so far.
4. Calculate the total target weight loss in mg.
5. The difference between target and current weight loss determines how much additional weight still needs to be lost.
6. Determine the number of days remaining in the effective incubation period.
7. Calculate the required daily weight loss from the remaining required loss.
8. Use conductance to determine the required difference in water-vapour partial pressures.
9. Derive relative humidity from the pressure difference and temperature.

In simplified notation:

\[M_{target} = W_{0} \cdot \frac{C}{100} \cdot 1000\]

\[M_{lost} = \left( W_{0} - W_{t} \right) \cdot 1000\]

\[M_{rem} = M_{target} - M_{lost}\]

\[D_{rem} = IP_{eff} - t_{inc}\]

\[\Delta m_{req} = \frac{M_{rem}}{D_{rem}}\]

\[\Delta P_{req} = \frac{\Delta m_{req}}{G}\]

\[RH_{rec} = \frac{P_{sat}(T) - \Delta P_{req}}{P_{sat}(T)} \cdot 100\]

Here, M_target is the total target weight loss, M_lost is weight loss so far, M_rem is the remaining required loss, D_rem is the number of days remaining, and RH_rec is the recommended relative humidity.

14.3 Result Limits

The result is constrained by practical limits:

• if the calculated value is below the minimum humidity entered by the user, the result is marked as below minimum humidity,
• if the calculated value is above 100%, it is capped at 100%,
• if key data is missing, no recommendation is calculated and the application displays the reason.

14.4 Common Reasons a Recommendation Cannot Be Calculated

A recommendation may not be produced if any of the following is missing:

• an incubation-progress record,
• at least two weight records for the standard automatic recalculation,
• current weight,
• laying date or incubation start date,
• incubation period,
• initial weight,
• conductance,
• temperature or humidity during the preceding period,
• target weight loss.

When troubleshooting, first check the egg page and add any missing weighings, laying or incubation start date, and incubator maintenance records.

15. Species Statistics

Species statistics are methodologically important because they serve as a reference source for Incupedia, recommended values and defaults in other calculations.

15.1 Egg and Outcome Counts

The following are counted for each species:

• total number of eggs,
• number of fertilized eggs,
• number of unfertilized eggs,
• number of hatched eggs,
• number of eggs in which the embryo died.

A fertilized egg is recognised automatically, primarily from the fertilization field or the presence of a hatching date. A hatched egg is one with the outcome “Hatched” or with a hatching date, unless the record was ended for another clear reason. An egg in which the embryo died is one with “Embryonic death” as the reason for ending incubation. An unfertilized egg corresponds to the reason “Unfertilized”.

15.2 Dimensions and Weight

The following are calculated from published eggs after any publication delay has elapsed:

• mean width,
• minimum and maximum width,
• mean length,
• minimum and maximum length,
• mean weight,
• minimum and maximum weight.

Dimensions are summarised using the arithmetic mean, minimum and maximum. Mean weight is calculated from initial weights.

15.3 Incubation Period

The species incubation period has two sources:

• reference data from the Birdbase database (Şekercioğlu et al., 2025),
• observed data from eggs in the application.

The observed period is calculated for all eggs with an exact laying date and a hatching date as the difference between those dates. It is summarised as the median, minimum and maximum.

15.4 Laying Month

The application can display or calculate laying seasonality. It uses:

• laying date,
• the collection date if the laying date is missing.

The output is a circular bar chart of laying by month. This is an indicative value and depends on complete data entry.

15.5 Species Weight Loss in Successful and Unsuccessful Eggs

Weight loss is evaluated separately for:

• successfully hatched eggs,
• eggs in which the embryo died.

Only eggs with a defined outcome and enough successive weighings are included. In particular, the application requires:

• at least two weighings,
• valid initial and final weights,
• an observation period of at least 7 days, measured from the exact laying date or, if absent, from the finding date,
• a meaningful incubation period.

Simplified weight-loss conversion:

\[L_{species} = \left( \frac{W_{0} - W_{last}}{W_{0}} \cdot 100 \right) \cdot \frac{IP_{eff}}{D_{obs}}\]

This converts the weight loss over the observed interval to 96 percent of the reference or observed incubation period. Non-numeric and negative results, values over 40 percent, records with problematic time alignment, and eggs with no measurable decrease in weight are excluded. For hatched eggs, extrapolated weight loss of 1 percent or less and histories with total observed weight loss above 30 percent are also excluded.

Mean weight loss is weighted by the length of the observation period. A longer, high-quality record therefore carries more weight than a short interval.

15.6 Recommended Species Temperature

The recommended species temperature is the arithmetic mean of the preceding-period temperatures from all available records for eggs whose reason for ending incubation is Hatched. It is neither a median nor a mean calculated per egg; an egg with more usable records contributes more values.

This value is not a universal biological optimum. It describes the conditions under which eggs of the species were successfully hatched in the available data.

15.7 Recommended Species Humidity

Recommended species humidity is not a simple mean of measured humidities. It is calculated from the weight-loss model using:

• mean species weight,
• median observed incubation period for the species,
• mean weight loss in successful eggs,
• recommended species temperature,
• the arithmetic mean conductance from all available progress records for the species.

Methodologically, it answers the question:

At the recommended temperature, what relative humidity would cause an average egg of the species to attain the mean weight loss of successful eggs?

If the result is below 20%, the application stores a value representing “less than 20%”. If the result lies outside a meaningful range or inputs are missing, the recommended species humidity is not stored.

16. Humidity Optimisation in One Incubator

Incubator optimisation finds a single humidity setting that provides a compromise for all included active eggs in the incubator.

16.1 What Is Optimised

Temperature is fixed in this mode. The latest known incubator temperature is used, or the default of 37.2 °C if none is available. Only relative humidity is optimised within the range:

\[RH_{\min} \leq RH \leq 100\]

On an individual incubator page, the field is pre-filled with its recorded minimum humidity, otherwise 0%. In batch optimisation of all operating incubators, the default minimum is 0%. The user can change the value before calculation.

16.2 Eggs Included in Optimisation

Optimisation includes active eggs whose latest progress record places them in the incubator concerned. Active means that the egg has not hatched and has no end-of-incubation outcome.

The user can narrow the selection further by:

• specific eggs,
• species,
• incubation start-date range,
• a minimum number of days since the Start of artificial incubation field; this filter does not calculate the actual time spent in the current incubator.

In institutional mode, results are restricted to the user's institution.

16.3 Inputs for Each Egg

For each egg, the following are prepared:

• current weight,
• predicted initial weight, otherwise the Hoyt estimate,
• daily loss,
• conductance re-derived from the latest daily loss and preceding-period conditions; if it cannot be derived, the arithmetic species mean,
• current incubation time,
• species incubation period,
• target weight loss,
• preceding temperature and humidity for deriving conductance and for diagnostics.

For optimisation, incubation period is used as:

\[IP_{eff} = 0,96 \cdot IP_{resolved}\]

Target weight loss is the mean species weight loss of successfully hatched eggs. If unavailable, the default value of 15% is used.

An egg is excluded from optimisation if key data is missing, such as:

• current weight,
• incubation period,
• incubation time,
• initial weight,
• conductance.

16.4 Optimisation Criterion

At every possible humidity, the application estimates each egg's expected final weight loss and compares it with that egg's target weight loss.

Error for an egg:

\[e_{i}(RH) = \left| L_{final,i}(RH) - C_{i} \right|\]

Estimated final weight loss for an individual egg at the selected humidity:

\[L_{final,i}(RH) = \frac{M_{lost,i} + G_{i} \cdot P_{sat}(T) \cdot \left( 1 - \frac{RH}{100} \right) \cdot \left( IP_{eff,i} - t_{inc,i} \right)}{1000 \cdot W_{0,i}} \cdot 100\]

Overall optimised humidity:

\[RH^{*} = \underset{RH \in \left\lbrack RH_{\min},100 \right\rbrack}{arg\, min}{median}_{i}\left( e_{i}(RH) \right)\]

The optimiser seeks the humidity that minimises the typical error across eggs. It uses the median absolute deviation, so a single extreme egg does not determine the outcome for the entire incubator.

The calculation uses one-dimensional optimisation within the permitted humidity range.

16.5 Eggs in Suboptimal Conditions

The user also enters a tolerance, such as 3 percentage points of weight loss. If the absolute difference between an egg's estimated final and target weight loss at the optimum humidity is greater than this tolerance, the application marks it as an egg in suboptimal conditions. This is not the difference between current and optimum relative humidity.

This does not automatically mean that incubation is destined to fail. It means that a single incubator humidity is unsuitable for the egg given its current weight loss, conductance and target weight loss.

Possible user responses:

• leave the egg in place and accept the risk of failure,
• adjust target weight loss if a different value is biologically appropriate,
• check weighings and dates to determine whether the result was caused by a recording error,
• move the egg to another incubator,
• change the strategy for the group of eggs.

17. Optimising Egg Allocation Among Incubators

This optimisation addresses a different question from optimising one incubator:

Which eggs should be moved between existing operating incubators to align their current humidity requirements more closely with the incubator settings?

17.1 Input Incubators

Only incubators marked as operating by their latest maintenance record are included; an incubator without a maintenance record is excluded. The following are used for each incubator:

• current temperature,
• current relative humidity,
• capacity,
• current occupancy.

17.2 Input Eggs

Active eggs in operating incubators are included. Each egg requires:

• current incubator,
• current weight,
• initial weight,
• daily loss,
• incubation time,
• incubation period,
• target weight loss,
• preceding temperature and humidity, or current incubator settings as fallback values.

Eggs missing key data are not used.

17.3 Transfer-Suggestion Logic

Optimisation procedure:

1. Calculate an individual optimum humidity for every egg.
2. Lock in their current incubator any eggs whose weight loss extrapolated from the latest daily rate differs from the target by no more than the specified tolerance.
3. For the remaining eggs, find an incubator with the same configured temperature and free capacity.
4. Select the candidate incubator according to how closely its humidity matches the egg's individual requirement.
5. Do not suggest a transfer unless it produces an improvement.
6. The optimisation also attempts beneficial swaps of eggs between incubators.
7. If the proposed arrangement would worsen the median absolute deviation between expected and target weight loss, cancel all transfers.

Important limitation: transfers are suggested only between incubators with the same configured temperature. This prevents the application from changing the temperature strategy automatically for the sake of humidity.

17.4 Meaning of Quality Improvement

The “quality improvement” output is the difference between the median absolute deviation of expected from target weight loss before and after transfers. It is reported in percentage points of weight loss, not as a percentage of relative improvement or a difference in humidity.

The user should assess the suggestion in light of:

• the biological requirements of the species,
• egg age,
• handling risk,
• actual incubator stability,
• space and hygiene rules,
• the reliability of input data.

Optimisation never moves eggs physically. It only makes suggestions.

Note. Different incubators may differ in the stability of their incubation conditions. Incubase does not assess this stability directly, but can account for it through continuous records of incubator settings and successive measurements of egg weight. The resulting weight loss reflects the combined effect of conditions in the incubator under the given settings.

18. Working with Incubators and Maintenance Records

Maintenance records are more important than they may appear. If the user records temperature and humidity regularly, the application can reconstruct conditions between weighings.

Recommended practice:

• record a temperature or humidity change whenever the setting actually changes,
• record check readings regularly to assess the stability of incubation conditions personally, even if settings do not change,
• mark an incubator as taken out of service,
• configure incubator capacity correctly,
• after moving an egg, create a new progress record with the new incubator.

Without a maintenance history, conditions between weighings cannot be calculated. An individual recommendation is then produced only if the required derived values have already been stored; as described above, optimisation may use current incubator settings or the species mean conductance in some branches.

19. Recording Incubation Progress

Every progress record should correspond to an actual observation or handling event. A weighing is the most common record.

Recommended minimum record:

• date and time,
• egg weight,
• incubator,
• a note if an unusual situation occurred.

An extended record may contain:

• estimated stage of development,
• number of manual turns per day,
• cooling,
• candling,
• embryonic heart rate (Buddy BPM),
• handling,
• chick weight,
• reason for incubation, reason for ending incubation, and notes as appropriate.

Methodologically, regular weighing under comparable conditions is better than irregular and very frequent interventions. Scale accuracy and procedural consistency directly affect the accuracy of conductance calculations and recommended humidity.

20. Incubation Outcomes

Ending incubation correctly is important for species statistics. The user should enter:

• the hatching date if the egg hatched,
• the reason for ending incubation,
• fertilization,
• any notes on development or death.

The outcome affects:

• number of hatched eggs,
• fertilization in species statistics,
• the calculation of weight loss in successful eggs,
• recommended species temperature,
• recommended species humidity,
• the validity of Incupedia.

Records that have not been ended, or whose ending is unclear, may be excluded from some species calculations.

21. Incupedia: Methodological Interpretation of Data

Incupedia is a reference module, but its data comes in different forms.

21.1 Reference Data

Reference data comes from the species table or from external sources imported into the application. Examples include:

• taxonomy,
• IUCN status,
• reference minimum and maximum incubation periods.

21.2 Calculated Data

Calculated data is derived from published records after any publication delay has elapsed. The institutional mode—Private, View only or Cite—does not by itself change whether records are included in the summary. Examples include:

• egg counts,
• hatchability and outcomes,
• observed dimensions,
• observed weights,
• observed incubation period,
• mean conductance,
• recommended temperature,
• recommended humidity,
• mean weight loss.

These values become more reliable as the quantity of high-quality data for the species increases.

21.3 Interpreting Missing Values

A missing value does not mean that the characteristic does not exist biologically for the species. It means that the application lacks sufficient valid data to display or calculate it.

Common causes:

• too few eggs,
• missing dimensions,
• missing weighings,
• missing laying date,
• missing incubation outcome,
• publication of the data is delayed.

22. Sharing and Delayed Publication

Access to primary data is configured at institution level. For an individual egg, the only choice is whether to publish it immediately or after a selected delay. The application therefore distinguishes:

• primary data from an institution in Private mode, which is not shown to others without approved access,
• primary data from an institution in View-only mode, which can be viewed in the application but not reused without an agreement,
• primary data from an institution in Cite mode, which can be used professionally provided the source is properly credited,
• individual eggs with publication delayed by 3, 6 or 12 months.

When an egg is saved, its publication date is set to 90, 180 or 365 days after saving. Selecting Visible immediately removes the delay. Until the publication date is reached, the egg remains available to its own institution but is not shown to other institutions and does not contribute to shared species statistics.

Methodological implications:

• the institutional Private mode restricts access to primary records, but does not automatically exclude them from aggregate statistics,
• before its publication date, a delayed egg is available to its own institution but does not contribute to shared species statistics,
• once the publication date is reached, the egg may begin affecting species statistics and its primary record becomes accessible under the institution mode,
• changing or newly applying a delay can temporarily change the number of eggs included in species means.

When interpreting Incupedia, remember that it includes only data that meets the calculation requirements and for which any delayed-publication period has elapsed.

23. Managing Species, Synonyms and Taxonomy

Species statistics are combined under the canonical species. This is important for synonyms, historical names and subspecies.

Correctly configured taxonomy affects:

• the species under which an egg is counted,
• the default incubation period derived from the family,
• Incupedia,
• search,
• species comparisons.

If an egg is assigned to the wrong species, it can distort both its own page and shared species statistics.

24. Recommended Workflow

24.1 Creating an Egg Record

1. Select the correct species.
2. Enter an unambiguous egg identifier.
3. Enter the length and width.
4. Enter the laying date if known.
5. Enter the collection date and start of incubation if they differ.
6. Enter initial or current weight if available.
7. In the Sharing field, select Visible immediately or delay publication by 3, 6 or 12 months.

24.2 Ongoing Incubation

1. Weigh the egg regularly.
2. Record every weighing with an exact time.
3. Keep incubator maintenance records up to date.
4. After moving an egg, create a record with the new incubator.
5. Monitor daily weight loss and humidity recommendations.
6. Do not interpret a single fluctuation without checking the measurement.

24.3 Checking a Recommendation

1. Open the egg page.
2. Check that the egg has at least two weighings.
3. Check the laying date or incubation start date.
4. Verify that an incubation period is available for the species.
5. Enter a target weight loss if you do not want to use the species or default value.
6. Enter the minimum humidity permitted by operating constraints.
7. Evaluate the result biologically, not only numerically.

24.4 Ending Incubation

1. Enter the hatching or end date.
2. Enter the reason for ending incubation.
3. Record fertilization if known.
4. Add a note on development, death or handling.
5. Check whether immediate publication is selected or publication should remain delayed.

25. Data Quality Control

Data quality directly affects calculations. The most common errors are:

• incorrect dimension units,
• length and width interchanged,
• weight entered in a different unit,
• an inaccurate laying date,
• a weighing without a time,
• overwriting an old record instead of creating a new one,
• a missing incubator maintenance record,
• the wrong species configured,
• a missing incubation outcome,
• forgetting to end the record for an egg that has already hatched or died.

Practical checks:

• weight should decrease during incubation, not increase,
• an extreme change between two weighings is usually a measurement error,
• recommended humidity close to zero or 100 percent usually indicates an extreme biological situation or a problem with the input data,
• a missing laying date makes incubation-time interpretation less reliable,
• a species without an incubation period limits both recommendations and optimisations.

26. Troubleshooting Common Situations

26.1 Recommended Humidity Is Not Displayed

Check:

• whether the egg has at least two weight records,
• whether a laying or incubation start date has been entered,
• whether the incubation period is known,
• whether temperature and humidity are available,
• whether the egg has an initial weight or dimensions from which it can be estimated,
• whether the latest record has no weight.

26.2 Incubator Optimisation Excluded Many Eggs

Key data is probably missing. The most common issues are:

• current weight is missing,
• the species incubation period is missing,
• there is insufficient weighing history,
• conductance is missing,
• initial weight is missing,
• the egg has no clearly determined incubation time.

26.3 Recommended Humidity Is Lower Than Can Be Achieved Operationally

This means that at the current temperature and in the egg's current state, the model requires more weight loss than the minimum humidity permits. Options include:

• verify the weighings and initial weight,
• check target weight loss,
• consider a different temperature strategy,
• move the egg to a more suitable incubator,
• accept a compromise if it is biologically safe.

26.4 Recommended Humidity Is Very High

According to the model, the egg is losing weight too quickly or has already lost too much. Check:

• whether the weight was entered incorrectly,
• whether the laying date is incorrect,
• whether target weight loss is too high,
• whether the maintenance records from which preceding-period humidity was derived are incorrect or incomplete,
• whether the egg genuinely has high conductance.

26.5 Species Statistics Do Not Match Expectations

Possible reasons:

• too few published eggs meet the requirements of the particular calculation,
• some eggs have not yet reached their delayed publication date,
• eggs are assigned to synonyms or to the wrong species,
• incubation outcomes are missing,
• exact laying dates are missing.

27. Methodological Limitations

Calculations in Incubase are based on practical weight-loss models. The following limitations must be considered:

• eggs of different species may exhibit substantial within-species variation,
• shell behaviour may not remain constant throughout incubation,
• weighings may contain errors,
• the actual humidity at the egg may not match the incubator sensor reading,
• the egg position within the incubator may affect its microclimate,
• incubator behaviour may be unstable,
• target weight loss may not be well established for every species,
• small datasets may produce unstable species means.

The application should therefore be used as decision support. The best results come from combining high-quality data, biological knowledge of the species and cautious interpretation of recommendations.

28. Summary of the Main Formulas

29. Recommended Minimum Data for Reliable Calculations

For each egg, try to record:

• the correct species,
• length and width,
• the laying date or at least the start of incubation,
• initial weight or the earliest possible first weighing,
• at least two high-quality, time-stamped weighings,
• regular subsequent weighings,
• current incubator,
• incubator temperature and humidity records,
• a clear incubation outcome.

Reliable species statistics also require:

• selecting immediate publication, or recognising that the egg will not contribute to reference calculations until the selected delay has elapsed,
• recording fertilization and outcome,
• correcting taxonomy,
• not leaving records open for eggs whose incubation has already ended.

30. Methodological Summary

Incubase combines record-keeping with a computational model. On the egg page, the user enters species, dimensions, event dates, weights and outcome; temperature and humidity are entered in incubator maintenance records. The application derives volume, initial weight, incubation time, daily weight loss, preceding-period conditions, conductance and expected final weight loss. Humidity recommendations and optimisations are built on these values.

The central methodological principle is simple: the application aims to manage egg weight loss so that it matches the target weight loss for the given species and incubation stage. All advanced calculations—recommended humidity, incubator optimisation and transfer suggestions—are different ways of applying this principle in practice.

31. Instructional Videos

All instructional videos available for the selected manual language are listed here in one place. The links open on YouTube in a new tab.

• Instructional video: Introduction to the Platform
• Instructional video: Navigating the Incubase Environment