Improvement in Hatchability of Turkey Eggs by Injection with Water Soluble Vitamin E

Abstract

The turkey hen has been shown to be readily affected by a vitamin E deficiency (Jensen, 1953; and Atkinson et al., 1955). Subsequently Jensen et al. (1956) reported that the antioxidant N N’ diphenyl-paraphenylene-diamine (DPPD) was almost as effective as vitamin E in improving hatchability of eggs from turkey hens fed a vitamin E deficient ration. Because tocopherol level in eggs was not greatly affected by the addition of DPPD, these workers suggested that vitamin E and DPPD may be protecting some other unknown nutrient or metabolite which is essential for reproduction in the turkey. In the light of these observations, it seemed desirable to determine the effect on hatchability of injecting vitamin E per se into vitamin E-deficient turkey eggs.In this work d alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate,2 which is a water soluble form of vitamin E, was used to permit injections into the albumen of the egg… .