The Effect of Pre-incubation Storage Duration on the Embryonic Development and Hatch Weight in Cobb 500 Broiler Hatching Eggs
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Date
2020
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
It is a common practice of storing hatching eggs until they are finally placed in an
incubator. The effect of pre-incubation storage duration on embryonic development and
hatch weight has not been fully investigated. This study was conducted to identify the
effect of pre-incubation storage duration on embryonic development, hatch weight, and to
determine the best pre-incubation storage duration that gives the highest embryonic
development, hatch weight in broiler hatching eggs. Broiler hatching egg samples with
the weight range of 64-67g and approximately similar colour and shape index from the
Cobb 500 strain were randomly selected from 8 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. for the experiment and
stored under 16-18°C and 75% relative humidity. Six experiments were carried out and
each experiment consisted of the 15 treatments and 3 replicates. Day 1 storage of the egg
samples was considered as the control and day 2 to day 15 of the storage were the rest of
the treatments. The embryonic development was measured by the diameter of the
blastoderms, the diameter of the blood rings, the highest distance between air sac, and the
area of blood vessels spread and the weight of 15 days old embryos. The hatch weight
was measured at the initial and the post stages of the hatching. Collected data were
subjected to the One-way ANOVA technique independently for each experiment. The
embryonic development was decreased (p<0.05) from day 8 of the storage and the
hatching weight was decreased (p<0.05) from day 9 of the storage. The maximum
embryonic development and the hatching weight were observed on day 3 of the storage.
The reason for delay the development after 3rd day of storage can be the delay of initial
embryonic development due to cold storage. In conclusion, broiler hatching eggs can be
stored up to 7 days without reducing embryonic development (p<0.05) and up to 8 days
without reducing hatch weight (p<0.05). The maximum embryonic development and the
hatching weight were obtained on day 3 of the storage.
Keywords: Broiler, Cobb 500, Hatching eggs, Embryonic development, Hatch weight
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Keywords
Agriculture, Animal Sciences, an