Postnatal effects of incubation length in mallard and pheasant chicks

Abstract

Eggs of mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and ring‐necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) were incubated in clutches arranged to stimulate embryos to hatch earlier or later than normal. This manipulation of hatching time was achieved by combining eggs of different age in the same clutch. To ensure hatching synchrony, embryos communicate with each other during the last stage of incubation, resulting in either a delay or an acceleration of hatching. Embryos of both species that accelerated their hatching time suffered a higher mortality rate after hatching. Combining mortality with the proportion of hatchlings that suffered from leg deformities, impeding their movements, resulted in a cost also to pheasant chicks delaying their hatching. Chicks of both species accelerating hatching time had a lower minimum mass and a shorter tarsus length than control chicks, whereas chicks delaying hatching time either grew as well or slightly better than control chicks. Mallard chicks had better balance and mobility immediately after hatching the longer they stayed in the egg. This indicates that the period immediately before hatching, is an important period for muscular and organ maturity. Reducing this period results in costs affecting post‐hatching survival. The strategy to assure synchronous hatching in mallards and pheasants probably reflect a trade‐off between the negative effects of shifting the age at hatching away from normal and differences in predation risk during different stages of reproduction.