Effect of eggshell temperature on malpositions, heart weight and protein use in broiler embryos

R. Molenaar*, R. Meijerhof*, B. Kemp‡, H. van den Brand‡

*HatchTech Incubation Technology, Gildetrom 25, 3905 TB Veenendaal, The Netherlands; ‡ Wageningen University, Adaptation Physiology Group, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands

In practice, high eggshell temperatures at the end of incubation are often observed due to cooling or air velocity problems in the incubator. This experiment evaluated consequences of high eggshell temperatures on malpositioned embryos, heart weight, and protein use in broiler hatchlings.

Embryos were incubated at normal (37.8°C) or high (38.9°C) eggshell temperature (EST) after 7 days of incubation and hatchling quality was measured 12 h after emerging from the eggshell. Dead embryos in the high EST had 3.1% more ‘head over wing’ and 1.7% more ‘head between legs’ malpositions than in the normal EST. The reason for these malpositions is unknown, but might be related to weakness of the embryo or lower muscle activity. Download the entire article via the button below.