Plural of hatcher; persons or devices that hatch eggs, or workers in a hatchery who manage the hatching process.
From hatch + -er (one who does something). The term became more common as commercial egg and fish production developed in the 1800s.
Modern hatchery workers use sophisticated equipment to monitor temperature, humidity, and even turn eggs automatically—but in the 1800s, they did this all by hand, checking thousands of eggs daily!
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