The ultimate goal of poultry hatching is to increase the hatching rate and to produce healthy hatched birds. In the incubation process, temperature is the most important factor for the egg hatching rate, the growth performance and offspring phenotype. This not only affects the early development of the offspring, but also has a continued influence on the physical characteristics of the birds, such as final body weight and meat quality. This article reviews the importance of incubation temperature on offspring phenotype, sex differentiation, organism immunity and the development of muscle fibre in poultry.
