hatchery
HACH-uh-ree
/ˈhætʃəri/
A facility where eggs are incubated and hatched under controlled conditions.
Typically refers to commercial operations that hatch thousands of eggs to supply farms with day-old chicks.
The story behind the word. Formed by combining the Middle English 'hacchen' with the suffix '-ery', which denotes a place of business or specialized activity. It arose as commercial poultry farming expanded in the 19th century.
Word relationships
- breeding facility: A breeding facility focuses on genetics and mating, whereas a hatchery focuses specifically on the incubation and hatching of eggs.
Commonly confused with
- incubator: An incubator is the specific machine used to warm eggs, while a hatchery is the entire building or business containing these machines.
Word family
- hatch (verb): To emerge from an egg.
- hatchability (noun): The percentage of fertile eggs that successfully hatch.
Collocations
- commercial hatchery
- poultry hatchery
- hatchery manager
- hatchery sanitation
Example sentences
- "The commercial hatchery shipped ten thousand day-old pullets to the egg farm early Tuesday morning." Industrial supply chain description.
- "Strict sanitation is maintained inside the hatchery to prevent pathogens from infecting the vulnerable newborns." Biosecurity protocols in agriculture.
Memory hook
A hatchery is a factory where chicks hatch. Hatchery: the hatching factory.
When not to use
Do not use to describe a simple chicken coop or a natural nest where a single hen hatches her own eggs.
Fun facts
- Commercial hatcheries use advanced audio sensors to detect the collective chirping of chicks, which helps them determine the exact peak hatching window.
Explore more words
incubator, poultry, incubation, nursery, commissary, brewery
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