Artificial egg incubation in mud-brick ovens
Incubación artificial de huevos en hornos de adobe
- Date
- c. century IV a.C. (documentado) · confidence low
- Place
- Nile Delta, Egypt
- Credited to
- Egyptian poultry keepers
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The Egyptians hatched thousands of eggs in mud-brick ovens heated with dung and straw, without hens. Greek and Roman authors describe the method, which survived into the 20th century in the Delta's 'ma'mal el-firakh' hatcheries.
The earliest sources are Greek and Roman (Aristotle, Diodorus, Pliny); some authors believe the technique is much older, but there is no direct archaeological evidence. The year given is that of the first written reference.
What it led to
- large-scale production of chicks and eggs without relying on broody hens
- spread of the method in the Near East and its description by Réaumur in 1749
- a forerunner of 19th-century industrial incubators