AN INTERACTION EFFECT OF NITROGEN STORAGE WITH SPECIFIC STRAINS IN THE HATCHABILITY OF TURKEY EGGS

Abstract

Fertile turkey eggs, totalling 592 from two small strains over three bi-weekly hatch-storage periods in trial 1 and 666 from three large strains over one biweekly hatch-storage period in trial 2, were subdivided into two approximately equal groups and each group was subjected to either refrigerated storage or refrigerated storage plus nitrogen gas in a closed environment. Results indicated that the hatchability of eggs of specific strains was enhanced by storage in nitrogen gas. The enhancement in hatchability did not appear to be consistently related to the level of hatchability in a specific strain. The effect of nitrogen treatment in preserving embryonic viability was better in the second than in the first week of storage in one trial only. The interaction of nitrogen treatment with hatches in trial 1 suggested that the effect of nitrogen treatment may be most pronounced when other environmental factors deter embryonic viability.