The rate of egg loss through internal laying

Abstract

Synopsis Sixty‐six Brown Leghorn pullets with laying rates of 50 to 89 per cent were found on occasion to nest without laying. A further population of 39 birds was examined for signs of ovulation after nesting‐without‐laying and 92.5 per cent of these nestings were found to have an associated ovulation. This suggests that the first population had lost about 11.6 per cent of its potential eggs through internal laying. A small number of birds derived from a commercial strain showed similar results.