Effect of Different Incubation Temperatures on Mortality of Chick Embryos

Abstract

IT IS a matter of common knowledge that relatively slight variations from the optimum in incubation temperature influence adversely embryonic development and hatchability. Elevation of incubation temperature above normal is more serious than depression below normal but long continued deviations in either direction often lead to poor hatches.It is desirable to know when embryonic death occurs when eggs are incubated at abnormal temperatures and the immediate causes of death, as aids in the diagnosis of the causes of poor hatches. It is also important to know whether embryos in eggs of inherently high hatchability differ in resistance to abnormal temperature from embryos in eggs of inherently low hatchability.Papers by Henderson (1930), Barott (1937), and by Taylor, Gunns, and Moses (1933) contains summaries of the voluminous literature on the effects of abnormal temperatures on early embryonic development. Henderson (1930) measured the growth in weight and nitrogen content of embryos .