prehatch

adj

1. (not-comparable)Before the hatching of an egg

   “The controversy stems from the company’s use of antibiotics for prehatch vaccinations two to three days before its chicks are hatched.”

verb

1. To undergo changes that lead to hatching, such as the rupture of internal membranes as the embryo begins to emerge from the blastoderm cuticle.

   “Failure of these eggs to prehatch within 30 days at 7 C is not surprising since it took longer for prehatching to occur in nature under substantially lower temperatures than 7 C.”