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Time Held Prior to Incubation and Hatchability of Turkey Eggs*
305
RESEARCH NOTES
percent had less ability to neutralize NaCl at four percent but diarrhea did not occur in the two birds fed this diet. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
GLENN VAN N E S S Associate Poultry Pathologist Florida Agricultural Experiment Station -Gainesville, Florida REFERENCES
Jungherr, E., and L. D. Matterson, 1944. Avian monocytosis, so-called pullet disease. Proc. 48th Meet. U. S. L. S. A.: 185-196. Quigley, G. D., 1944. The effect of wheat on the incidence of pullet disease or blue comb. Poultry Sci., 23:386-391. Scott, H. M., E. Jungherr, and L. D. Mattersjn, 1944. Possible role of potassium in pullet disease. Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol and Med., 57: 7-10.
TIME HELD PRIOR TO INCUBATION AND HATCHABILITY OF TURKEY EGGS Large numbers of turkey hatching eggs are shipped long distances. It is usually considered necessary to ship recently laid eggs although Scott (1933) has presented evidence to show that eggs held for three or four weeks at optimum temperatures would hatch well. This is contrary to findings with chicken eggs which usually show a gradual reduction in hatch with increase in age at time of setting (Waite 1919, Scott 1933). Moreover, Sampson and Wilson (1944) also found that holding turkey eggs 8 to 14 days reduced their hatchability by about eight percent as compared with those held 0 to 7 days. As a part of an investigation* into the effect of environmental factors prior to Received for publication February 6, 1947. * The investigation was undertaken at the request-of Mr. George Makins, General Manager, of the California Turkey Growers' Association, which organization paid all expenses other than those of the writer. I am indebted to Mr. Arthur M. Tomey, Manager of the California Turkey Growers' Association's Modesto plant and Mr. Ed Viss, Ripon Hatchery, who between them did most of the work on which this report is based.
incubation on hatchability of turkey eggs, 700 eggs were obtained from a turkey breeder, divided into 7 lots of 100 eggs each, and held at 55°F. for varying periods of time as shown in Figure 1. The eggs were turned once a day. Eleven, 21, 28, and 35 days later 100 eggs were obtained at each time from the same flock and set with the eggs held. 14, 21, 28 and 35 days. The eggs were laid about 24 hours before they were picked up at the turkey ranch. All hauling from the ranch to the California Turkey Growers Association plant at Modesto and from there to the hatchery at Ripon was by truck. Eggs removed as infertile or dead germs on the 24th day were opened and classified as infertile if there was no indication that embryonic development had occurred in the incubator. Obviously .the apparent fertility of the eggs held 21 days or longer was less than the actual fertility, hence the hatchability for these old eggs which were held 21, 28, or 35 days was calculated on the basis of an estimatd 90 percent of the eggs being fertile.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on April 17, 2015
The activity of potassium as demonstrated under the conditions of these experiments suggests that further consideration be given to the role of potassium. The marked resemblence of the pathological findings by Jungherr to those recorded for Addison's disease of man suggests that future efforts for treatment might well consider the role of sodium and calcium. It is likely that such a considera-
tion might prevent some mortality and increase the rate of recovery.
306
RESEARCH NOTES
It is obvious from the data summarized in Figure 1 that several embryos in the eggs held 21 and 28 days died before the eggs were incubated, while nearly half of those held 35 days were dead when placed in the incubator. There was a gradual increase in the percentage of embryos that died during the first 24 days
pronounced decrease at 35 days. The biggest decrease in apparent fertility, presumably caused by the death of the embryos prior to incubation, also occurred from 28 to 35 days. The decrease in hatchability was evidently due solely to the length of time the eggs were held prior to incubation since the hatchability of new
/OO I
FIG. 1. Effect of length of time held prior to incubation on hatchability. * Control lots. + See text.
of incubation as the length of the holding period prior to incubation increased up to a maximum for those held 28 days. The number of embryos dying after 24 days did not vary consistently with the length of the holding period. Hatchability was evidently not adversely affected by holding the eggs for 3 days but after that there was a gradual decrease of nearly ten percent each week to 28 days (4 weeks) and a further more
laid eggs set at the same time as eggs held 14 days or longer was equal to that of the eggs set immediately from the original 700 eggs (Fig. 1). There is good evidence in the results reported by others (see Scott 1933, Funk 1934) that the critical period when viability of embryos drops to zero or nearly so is influenced particularly by the temperature at which the eggs are held. The data reported in this paper, however, show that the hatchability of
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on April 17, 2015
Days He/d af 55" F
307
RESEARCH NOTES
turkey eggs, even when held at temperatures regarded as about optimum, may be reduced unless they are set less than a week from the time they are laid.
presumably due to greatly increased preincubation mortality, in eggs held more than 28 days.
SUMMARY Using 100 eggs per lot, 700 twenty-fourhour-old turkey eggs were set after being held for 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days at 55°F. and turned once daily. An equal number (100) of eggs held 0 to 3 days from the same source were set with .the eggs held 14, 21, 28, and 35 days. Compared with eggs held 0 to 3 days there was a gradual decrease in hatchability of eggs held for 7 days or longer up to 28 days with a big decrease from 28 to 35 days, and a similar decrease in apparent fertility,
Division of Poultry Husbandry University of California, Dams
V. S. ASMUNDSON
REFERENCES
SYNTHESIS OF NICOTINIC ACID BY THE DEVELOPING TURKEY EMBRYO* Chick embryos are known to synthesize nicotinic acid, since the newly hatched chick contains over 20 times as much of this vitamin as unincubated eggs (Snell and Quarles, 1941; Dann and Handler, 1941). Most of the increase occurs during the last half of the incubation period. Despite this synthetic capacity, which is at least_ partially retained by the chick (Dann and Handler, 1941; Briggs et al. 1943), growth on certain rations (Briggs et al. 1942, 1943), especially those low in tryptophane (Briggs, 1945) is markedly accelerated by addition of nicotinic acid. Under these conditions, the synthetic powers of the chick appear insufficient to furnish it with amounts of nicotinic acid required for optimal growth. Briggs (1946) recently reported that for optimal growth, turkey poults require 2 to 3 times as much dietary nicotinic acid Received for publication February 10, 1947 * Published with the approval of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station.
as do chicks on a similar ration. To ascertain whether this increased requirement reflected inability of the turkey poult to synthesize any portion of its requirement for nicotinic acid, the following experiment was conducted. Turkey eggs** were incubated at 99.5°F. \ At 0, 7, 14, 24 and 29 days a number of fertile eggs were removed for assay. Four eggs were assayed in groups of two each at all except the 29 day period. At this time only two eggs remained unhatched; these were assayed individually. Samples were prepared for assay as follows. After removing the shell the egg contents and a weight of water equal to that of the intact egg were homogenized for 5 minutes in the Waring Blendor. A 100 gm. aliquot of the blended material was mixed with 100 cc. of 2N H2SO4, then autoclaved at 15 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. The solution was cooled, filtered with suction, ** The eggs used were hatching eggs obtained from Mr. A. H. Trask, Black River Falls, Wisconsin.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on April 17, 2015
Funk, E. M., 1934. Factors influencing hatchability in the domestic fowl. Mo. Agri. Exp. Sta. Bull. 341. Sampson, F. R. and W. O. Wilson, 1944. Turkey egg hatchability in South Dakota. S. D. Bull. 375, page 11. Scott, H. M., 1933. The effect of age and holding temperatures on hatchability of turkey and chicken eggs. Poultry Sci. 12: 49-54. Waite, R. H., 1919. The effect of age of eggs on their hatching quality. Md. Agri. Exp. Stat. Bull. 233.
RESEARCH NOTES
percent had less ability to neutralize NaCl at four percent but diarrhea did not occur in the two birds fed this diet. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
GLENN VAN N E S S Associate Poultry Pathologist Florida Agricultural Experiment Station -Gainesville, Florida REFERENCES
Jungherr, E., and L. D. Matterson, 1944. Avian monocytosis, so-called pullet disease. Proc. 48th Meet. U. S. L. S. A.: 185-196. Quigley, G. D., 1944. The effect of wheat on the incidence of pullet disease or blue comb. Poultry Sci., 23:386-391. Scott, H. M., E. Jungherr, and L. D. Mattersjn, 1944. Possible role of potassium in pullet disease. Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol and Med., 57: 7-10.
TIME HELD PRIOR TO INCUBATION AND HATCHABILITY OF TURKEY EGGS Large numbers of turkey hatching eggs are shipped long distances. It is usually considered necessary to ship recently laid eggs although Scott (1933) has presented evidence to show that eggs held for three or four weeks at optimum temperatures would hatch well. This is contrary to findings with chicken eggs which usually show a gradual reduction in hatch with increase in age at time of setting (Waite 1919, Scott 1933). Moreover, Sampson and Wilson (1944) also found that holding turkey eggs 8 to 14 days reduced their hatchability by about eight percent as compared with those held 0 to 7 days. As a part of an investigation* into the effect of environmental factors prior to Received for publication February 6, 1947. * The investigation was undertaken at the request-of Mr. George Makins, General Manager, of the California Turkey Growers' Association, which organization paid all expenses other than those of the writer. I am indebted to Mr. Arthur M. Tomey, Manager of the California Turkey Growers' Association's Modesto plant and Mr. Ed Viss, Ripon Hatchery, who between them did most of the work on which this report is based.
incubation on hatchability of turkey eggs, 700 eggs were obtained from a turkey breeder, divided into 7 lots of 100 eggs each, and held at 55°F. for varying periods of time as shown in Figure 1. The eggs were turned once a day. Eleven, 21, 28, and 35 days later 100 eggs were obtained at each time from the same flock and set with the eggs held. 14, 21, 28 and 35 days. The eggs were laid about 24 hours before they were picked up at the turkey ranch. All hauling from the ranch to the California Turkey Growers Association plant at Modesto and from there to the hatchery at Ripon was by truck. Eggs removed as infertile or dead germs on the 24th day were opened and classified as infertile if there was no indication that embryonic development had occurred in the incubator. Obviously .the apparent fertility of the eggs held 21 days or longer was less than the actual fertility, hence the hatchability for these old eggs which were held 21, 28, or 35 days was calculated on the basis of an estimatd 90 percent of the eggs being fertile.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on April 17, 2015
The activity of potassium as demonstrated under the conditions of these experiments suggests that further consideration be given to the role of potassium. The marked resemblence of the pathological findings by Jungherr to those recorded for Addison's disease of man suggests that future efforts for treatment might well consider the role of sodium and calcium. It is likely that such a considera-
tion might prevent some mortality and increase the rate of recovery.
306
RESEARCH NOTES
It is obvious from the data summarized in Figure 1 that several embryos in the eggs held 21 and 28 days died before the eggs were incubated, while nearly half of those held 35 days were dead when placed in the incubator. There was a gradual increase in the percentage of embryos that died during the first 24 days
pronounced decrease at 35 days. The biggest decrease in apparent fertility, presumably caused by the death of the embryos prior to incubation, also occurred from 28 to 35 days. The decrease in hatchability was evidently due solely to the length of time the eggs were held prior to incubation since the hatchability of new
/OO I
FIG. 1. Effect of length of time held prior to incubation on hatchability. * Control lots. + See text.
of incubation as the length of the holding period prior to incubation increased up to a maximum for those held 28 days. The number of embryos dying after 24 days did not vary consistently with the length of the holding period. Hatchability was evidently not adversely affected by holding the eggs for 3 days but after that there was a gradual decrease of nearly ten percent each week to 28 days (4 weeks) and a further more
laid eggs set at the same time as eggs held 14 days or longer was equal to that of the eggs set immediately from the original 700 eggs (Fig. 1). There is good evidence in the results reported by others (see Scott 1933, Funk 1934) that the critical period when viability of embryos drops to zero or nearly so is influenced particularly by the temperature at which the eggs are held. The data reported in this paper, however, show that the hatchability of
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on April 17, 2015
Days He/d af 55" F
307
RESEARCH NOTES
turkey eggs, even when held at temperatures regarded as about optimum, may be reduced unless they are set less than a week from the time they are laid.
presumably due to greatly increased preincubation mortality, in eggs held more than 28 days.
SUMMARY Using 100 eggs per lot, 700 twenty-fourhour-old turkey eggs were set after being held for 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days at 55°F. and turned once daily. An equal number (100) of eggs held 0 to 3 days from the same source were set with .the eggs held 14, 21, 28, and 35 days. Compared with eggs held 0 to 3 days there was a gradual decrease in hatchability of eggs held for 7 days or longer up to 28 days with a big decrease from 28 to 35 days, and a similar decrease in apparent fertility,
Division of Poultry Husbandry University of California, Dams
V. S. ASMUNDSON
REFERENCES
SYNTHESIS OF NICOTINIC ACID BY THE DEVELOPING TURKEY EMBRYO* Chick embryos are known to synthesize nicotinic acid, since the newly hatched chick contains over 20 times as much of this vitamin as unincubated eggs (Snell and Quarles, 1941; Dann and Handler, 1941). Most of the increase occurs during the last half of the incubation period. Despite this synthetic capacity, which is at least_ partially retained by the chick (Dann and Handler, 1941; Briggs et al. 1943), growth on certain rations (Briggs et al. 1942, 1943), especially those low in tryptophane (Briggs, 1945) is markedly accelerated by addition of nicotinic acid. Under these conditions, the synthetic powers of the chick appear insufficient to furnish it with amounts of nicotinic acid required for optimal growth. Briggs (1946) recently reported that for optimal growth, turkey poults require 2 to 3 times as much dietary nicotinic acid Received for publication February 10, 1947 * Published with the approval of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station.
as do chicks on a similar ration. To ascertain whether this increased requirement reflected inability of the turkey poult to synthesize any portion of its requirement for nicotinic acid, the following experiment was conducted. Turkey eggs** were incubated at 99.5°F. \ At 0, 7, 14, 24 and 29 days a number of fertile eggs were removed for assay. Four eggs were assayed in groups of two each at all except the 29 day period. At this time only two eggs remained unhatched; these were assayed individually. Samples were prepared for assay as follows. After removing the shell the egg contents and a weight of water equal to that of the intact egg were homogenized for 5 minutes in the Waring Blendor. A 100 gm. aliquot of the blended material was mixed with 100 cc. of 2N H2SO4, then autoclaved at 15 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. The solution was cooled, filtered with suction, ** The eggs used were hatching eggs obtained from Mr. A. H. Trask, Black River Falls, Wisconsin.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on April 17, 2015
Funk, E. M., 1934. Factors influencing hatchability in the domestic fowl. Mo. Agri. Exp. Sta. Bull. 341. Sampson, F. R. and W. O. Wilson, 1944. Turkey egg hatchability in South Dakota. S. D. Bull. 375, page 11. Scott, H. M., 1933. The effect of age and holding temperatures on hatchability of turkey and chicken eggs. Poultry Sci. 12: 49-54. Waite, R. H., 1919. The effect of age of eggs on their hatching quality. Md. Agri. Exp. Stat. Bull. 233.