2. Higher rates of fertility and hatchability of Japanese quail eggs were observed from parents of 10 to 19 weeks of age, with peak fertility and hatchability at 14 and 12 weeks of age, respectively.
3. Sex ratios of 1:2 to 1:5 gave comparable fertility and hatchability results.
4. The hatching performance of quail eggs from cage and deep litter reared breeders was comparable.
5. Fertility and hatchability were directly proportional to the egg weight.
6. Quail egg shell colour, tints and blotches were found to influence hatching performance.
7. Storing quail eggs at 16 ± 2°C and 75 ± 5% relative humidity for more than 4 d reduced hatchability.
8. Hatchability of eggs stored at room temperature was improved if they were sealed in polyethylene bags.
9. Provision of light during the first 14 d of incubation resulted in a photo‐acceleration of about 3.2 h. 相似文献
2. This was not due entirely to a delay in the initiation of embryonic development; the rate of development during the first 2 d of incubation was significantly lower in eggs stored for 14 d than in non‐stored eggs.
3. There was no correlation between the developmental age of an embryo after any specified incubation time and either the original weight of the egg or the weight loss during storage.
4. The incidence of dead and malformed embryos increased progressively with the duration of storage. 相似文献
2. Oiling slowed the decline in albumen height (Haugh units) to that which occurred in unoiled eggs stored at 12 °C.
3. Oiling slowed the increase in albumen pH equally at 28 and 12 °C.
4. Oiling markedly decreased the weight loss of eggs stored at either temperature.
5. Oiling and temperature of storage were without effect on the whipping volumes of either albumen or unseparated albumen and yolk. 相似文献
2. The density of albumen increased, and the density of yolk sac contents decreased, during the first 5 d of incubation. Failure to turn eggs diminished these changes.
3. The rate of formation of SEF and its maximum weight were lower if eggs were not turned, as was the rate of decrease in albumen weight.
4. The concentration of sodium and chloride, as well as osmolality, were higher in SEF than in thin albumen, and were affected by a failure to turn eggs.
5. Static incubation altered the concentrations of yolk nutrients in SEF.
6. It is concluded that the formation of SEF is primarily dependent upon the transfer of sodium and chloride from albumen to SEF so creating an osmotic force for water movement in the same direction. Turning the eggs promotes this process by ensuring an adequate supply of ions in thin albumen adjacent to the blastoderm. 相似文献
2. Comparisons of holding temperatures (18 and 30°C) for 24 h after egg collection, in combination with a storage time of 0 or 7 d at 18°C prior to incubation, were made using the criteria: embryo development (stage), and size at 0, 3, 6 and 9 d incubation, EEM, late embryonic mortality (LEM) and hatchability (HAT).
3. Stage of development of embryos, at 0 d incubation, was highest for eggs held for 24 h at 30°C and stored for 7 d. Embryo stage, weight and length at 3, 6 and 9 d incubation were positively correlated.
4. Hatchability of fertile eggs was lowest (66.5%) for eggs held for 24 h at 30°C and stored for 7 d and highest (87.2%) for eggs held for 24 h at 18°C and stored for 0 d. Holding temperature and storage time significantly influenced EEM and LEM.
5. EEM classification differed for strain of breeder. In broiler breeders the majority of the EEM was at a relatively late stage of development (exhibiting an obvious blood ring with a visible embryo). In comparison, EEM from table egg breeders was distributed equally among three categories. 相似文献
2. Growth of both embryo and wing length during 42 d of incubation was comparable and approximately linear, with a more or less weekly doubling in size up to 35 d of incubation.
3. The embryo eye size increased more rapidly than beak length and reached a maximum of ~16.2 mm by 28 d of incubation, whereas beak length increased continuously until hatching at 42 d.
4. Linear regression equations were derived from morphometric measurements of embryos between 7 and 42 d.
5. Information stemming from these results can be used to estimate the age of dead-in-shell embryos in an attempt to identify timing of incubation problems that potentially result in low hatchability of fertile eggs. 相似文献
2. Storage of eggs caused shrinkage of the blastoderm. The amount of shrinkage tended to decrease with parental age.
3. The developmental age of embryos after 42‐h incubation increased with parental age but was reduced by storage, with embryos in eggs from middle‐aged birds (35 to 40 weeks of age) being least retarded.
4. The rate of development in fresh eggs increased with parental age. Storage reduced the rate of development equally at all flock ages.
5. The number of malformed embryos increased with storage time. After 14‐d storage there were fewer abnormalities in eggs from birds between 31 and 49 weeks of age than in younger or older birds. 相似文献
2. Discolouration prevention methods included treating the meal with ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FSH), in solution or as crystals, at a 4:1 weight ratio of iron to free gossypol (experiment 1), and reducing its residual lipid (CSL) content to 4.2 g/kg by hexane extraction (experiment 2).
3. In freshly laid eggs, no discolouration was observed when hens were fed a CSM‐based diet containing 250 mg free gossypol/kg and 87 mg CPFA/kg in experiment 1, but slightly brown yolks were produced in experiment 2.
4. Storage of the eggs at 22°C led to yolk mottling, an effect believed to be the initial stages of the brown yolk discolouration.
5. Storage of the eggs at 5°C resulted in enhancement of the brown yolk discolouration, apricot discolouration on surfaces of most yolks and pink albumen discolouration. These effects were prevented when the CSM was extracted with hexane. Apricot yolk and pink albumen discolourations were also produced when hens were fed a non‐CSM diet containing crude CSL at 20.5 g/kg.
6. Dietary CSL increased egg fat saturation, altering the ratios of stearic to oleic, palmitic to palmitoleic and heptadecanoic to hepta‐decenoic fatty acids.
7. Treatment of CSM with FSH reduced the slight brown yolk discolouration in fresh eggs (experiment 2) and the yolk mottling in warm‐stored eggs. Both in solution and as crystals, FSH prevented the enhancement of brown yolk discolouration in cold‐stored eggs, leaving most eggs with apricot yolk and pink albumen discolourations.
8. Treatment of CSM and CSL with FSH reduced the CPFA‐related effects on yolk fat saturation, and the colour and pH changes in cold‐stored eggs.
9. Exposure of yolks to ammonia vapour provided a useful test to predict the development of the gossypol‐related brown discolouration in stored eggs. 相似文献
2. Eggs incubated at 36.5°C hatched later than eggs incubated at 37.5°C but did not differ in age of mortality or incidence of malpositions and abnormalities.
3. Eggs incubated at 38.5°C hatched significantly less well than eggs incubated at 37.5°C and showed significant differences in time of embryo mortality. Overheated embryos had a mortality peak between 15 and 20 d of incubation and an increased mortality after 24 d of incubation.
4. Overheated eggs were characterised by a high incidence of embryos with head in small end, with excess albumen, ruptured yolk sacs, oedematous heads, eye cataracts and swollen down‐plumules. 相似文献
2. The production of double‐yolked eggs/100 hen d, high during the initial weeks of lay, rapidly declined and disappeared by 30 weeks of age.
3. The frequencies of broken, membranous and soft‐shelled eggs were significantly correlated with each other and with the frequency of multiple daily ovulations indicating a common aetiology for these defective egg types.
4. Double‐yolked eggs were produced by the heavier, earlier‐maturing pullets in the population.
5. Normal egg production in dwarf White Leghorns may be enhanced by reducing the incidence of defective eggs. 相似文献
2.?A total of 1500 hen eggs (Ross-308) were measured by TOBEC, and eggs with extremely high (10%, n = 150), extremely low (10%, n = 150) and average (10%, n = 150) electrical conductivity values were chosen for further investigation.
3.?During the incubation period, it was observed that eggs with high electrical conductivity had a significantly higher mortality than eggs with low electrical conductivity.
4.?It was observed that both the increase in electrical conductivity at the same egg weight, and the increase in egg weight at the same electrical conductivity resulted in an increase in the hatching weight.
5.?It was found that the dry matter, protein and fat content of the chicks hatched from eggs with low electrical conductivity was higher at hatching than that of the chicks hatched from eggs with high electrical conductivity.
6.?At 42 d of age the liveweight of cocks and pullets hatched from eggs with low electrical conductivity was 3·2 and 8·2% higher than the liveweight of cocks and pullets hatched from eggs with high electrical conductivity.
7.?Because of the higher liveweight at slaughter, there was a significant superiority of the chicks hatched from eggs with low electrical conductivity in the case of the examined carcase traits at slaughter.
8.?Similar tendencies were found also in the ratios of carcase variables to liveweight, but the between group differences were not statistically significant in this case.
9.?Based on the results it was concluded that TOBEC seems to be a useful method for separating eggs with different composition.
10.?This could be a good starting point for further in vivo investigations in order to clarify the effect of egg composition on hatchability and further development. 相似文献
2. During the last 7 years a random breeding sample of the production flock served as a genetic control.
3. Regressions of deviations of the production flock from the control flock on years, were highly significant for age at sexual maturity (‐2.18 d), egg production up to 275 d old (3.04 eggs), egg production to 500 d old (5.04 eggs) and egg weight at 14 months old (October) ( — 0.79 g).
4. The heritability of egg production up to 275 d old declined significantly from 0.35 to 0.19.
5. The realised heritability of egg production up to 275 d old was estimated to be 0.14.
6. The genetic correlation between egg production up to 275 d old and production in the residual part of the year was 0.48.
7. The rate of inbreeding in the production flock was 0.515% per generation and the expected rate of inbreeding in the control flock 0.21% per generation. 相似文献
2. Hatchability was only 37.2% and the result of high rates of infertility and contamination (22.2% and 22.8% respectively); it varied between eggs from different farms.
3. Embryonic mortality was high at the start and end of incubation, a pattern similar to that of other domestic birds.
4. Mortality of late stage embryos was related to percentage water loss and mass specific water vapour conductance of the shell, with extremes of the ranges causing the highest mortality.
5. Microbial contamination of the eggs was a significant problem and varied in eggs from different farms indicating that more attention is needed in both breeder bird and nest management. 相似文献
2. During the second and third weeks the incidence of tainted eggs exceeded 20% but fell to 11.4% during the final week.
3. Omission of the rapeseed meal from the diets halted the production of tainted eggs.
4. Neither egg production nor the health of the birds was adversely affected by the treatments.
5. The taint was described as “ fishy ” or “ crabby ” and was distinctive, but the source was not identified. 相似文献
2. Fresh laid eggs were stored at 15°C for 3, 7, or 14 d (group 1) or held initially at room temperature (21°C) for 6 to 9 h and subsequently stored at 15°C for 3, 7, or 14 d (group 2).
3. Most embryos in eggs from both groups progressed developmentally to Stage‐8, just prior to onset of hypoblast formation. There were no significant differences in embryo development either within or between groups.
4. It is concluded that under the conditions of this study, egg cooling and storage augment development of the embryo, albeit only slightly. 相似文献
2. Some of these embryos were injected with primordial germ cells (PGCs) after 55 h of incubation to attempt to repopulate the gonads.
3. Primordial germ cells transfected with a defective retrovirus containing the reporter gene lac Z were shown to settle in these sterilised gonads.
4. Quantitative histology of 6‐d embryos showed that busulphan produced 75% sterilisation but that PGCs could repopulate these gonads.
5. The technique of producing such germ line chimaeras is of value in studying cell kinetics, gonad differentiation and the production of transgenics. 相似文献
2. A comparison with an unselected control flock (C) over 50 weeks of lay in the final generation indicated a number of statistically significant correlated responses in commercially important traits in the S line in addition to the direct response of + 0.004 in specific gravity.
3. With an increase in specific gravity, there was a decrease of 3.4 in the percentage of soft‐shelled eggs laid.
4. The weight and albumen height of eggs measured within 1 hour of lay declined by 1.8 g and 2.1 Haugh units respectively.
5. There were reductions in the weight and albumen height losses of eggs stored over a 10‐d period (C 0.74, S 0.62 g and C 17.9, S 15.0 Haugh units respectively), so that at the end of this period the albumen heights in both lines were the same.
6. Average body weight and daily food intake were less by 0.28 kg and 7.5 g respectively.
7. Although there was no change in egg production, the average age at first egg was reduced by 11.3 d. 相似文献
2. The effect of the inhibitor of urate synthesis, allopurinol, upon weight, electrolytes and urate of allantoic fluid was investigated in eggs subject to different rates of water loss. The composition of plasma and the solid fraction of allantoic fluid was also investigated.
3. During the second half of incubation allantoic fluid water weight decreased, as did pH, and sodium, chloride and bicarbonate concentrations. Fluid urate and potassium concentrations increased, but osmolality was unchanged.
4. Allantoic urate and electrolyte concentrations were greatest, and fluid weight lowest, in eggs subject to high water loss.
5. Allopurinol reduced the total urate of allantoic fluid, and increased osmolality and electrolyte concentrations. Allopurinol had no effect on plasma osmolality.
6. It is concluded that in eggs of high water loss allantoic fluid osmolality was reduced by sequestration of sodium by urate in the fluid solid fraction. In eggs subject to low water loss fluid osmolality was reduced by the replacement of chloride by colloidal urate. 相似文献
2. From 10 to 18 d of incubation, thick albumen and embryos were weighed. Blood samples were collected at d 18 of incubation, at internal pipping and at hatch for determination of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and corticosterone concentration. During the last 2 d of incubation, hatching events of individual eggs were monitored every 2 h.
3. From 4 to 5 d of incubation in the SV group of Experiment 1, pH values of Ross strain chickens were lower than those of Isa Brown. From d 12 of incubation onwards, Ross embryos grew faster than those of Isa Brown. At 14 and 16 d of incubation, Ross eggs in the CO2 controlled incubator had lower albumen weights compared to all other treatments.
4. T3 concentrations in Ross embryos were higher than those of Isa Brown embryos. Chicken weight at hatch was in the following order: Isa Brown SV < Isa Brown VCO2 = Ross SV < Ross VCO2.
5. In Experiment 2, incubation time of VCO2 eggs until internal pipping, external pipping and hatch was significantly shorter than that of SV eggs.
6. It was concluded that mixing of hatching eggs of differential embryo developmental trajectory affects their hatching process. 相似文献