Abstract: In this study, the total bacterial count of the hatching eggs was carried out in four stages: in freshly laid eggs, before disinfection, after disinfection and before putting the eggs in the setter. The shells of all eggs were examined separately and 10-1 to 10-6 dilutions were used for individual culture. The level of contamination among the different stages were compared with the one-way ANOVA test. The results of bacterial counting and statistical analysis were as follows: The logarithmic mean scores for the contamination of shells were reported to be 8.20 (log CFU/egg) for each egg in the first stage, 5.93 in the second stage, 4.22 in the third stage and 2.83 in the fourth stage. A closer examination of the results revealed that there were significant differences among the degree of contamination of the shells of each stage and the preceding stage.

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