hatchery

American  

[hach-uh-ree] / ˈhætʃ ə ri /

noun

• hatcheries
  plural

1. a place for hatching eggs of hens, fish, etc., especially a large, commercial or government site where the young are hatched, cared for, and sold or distributed.

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hatchery British  

/ ˈhætʃərɪ /

noun

1. a place where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subhatchery
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hatcheries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hatchery

First recorded in 1875–80; hatch ¹ + -ery

Explanation

A hatchery is a place where fish or bird eggs are hatched. Do you want to raise chickens so you can have fresh eggs every day? You'll probably buy your birds as babies from a hatchery. Small poultry hatcheries produce chicks that are usually sold to backyard farmers. Larger poultry hatcheries are more like factories, supplying chickens for meat or eggs to enormous corporations. Fish hatcheries are an important part of fish farming, providing a safe place for eggs to hatch and fish to grow large enough to be used for food.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hatchery hatcheries

The Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District even has its own fish hatchery, where it rears the aptly named Western mosquitofish.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

The pond dried up in the 1970s after two wells were drilled as part of an expansion of the nearby fish hatchery at Fish Springs, and as pumping lowered the water table, Williams said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2025

"Interestingly, when we deploy them into containers in the sea, they often shift to a darker, more natural blue. But when they return to the hatchery, they become lighter again."

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025

It continued when they were hauled about 50 miles north to a hatchery in Fillmore, where they hung out until 266 of them made it to Arroyo Hondo the following month.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025

His newest schedule was to work for ten to twelve hours, then eat and sleep a few hours at the hatchery, and then get up and work six hours.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata

When environmentalists countered with expensive government salmon hatcheries, the bass adapted, hiding in the shallows surrounding the hatcheries, where they are treated to an endless buffet of salmon fingerlings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

For decades, government-run hatcheries in the Central Valley have reared and released millions of salmon each year to help boost their numbers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025

As detailed by National Geographic, it is a common practice in salmon hatcheries to harvest salmon sperm, which requires a scientist to squeeze a salmon in the right spot — also known as abdominal massaging.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2024

Many are now raised in government-run hatcheries before being released back into their native waters to later return to those same hatcheries.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2024

In the spring of 1961 an epidemic of liver cancer appeared among rainbow trout in many federal, state, and private hatcheries.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson