Glucose oxidation in chicken embryos incubated at a normal or high eggshell temperature

Roos Molenaar*, Joost van den Borne†, Ewoud Hazejager‡, Ron Meijerhof#, Bas Kemp‡, and Henry van den Brand‡

*HatchTech Incubation Technology B.V., P.O. Box 256, 3900 AG Veenendaal, the Netherlands; †Animal Nutrition Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, the Netherlands; ‡Adaptation Physiology Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, the Netherlands; #Poultry Performance Plus, Kleine Enkweg 1, 7383 DB Voorst, the Netherlands.

In practice, eggshell temperature (EST) often increases at the end of incubation due to heat production of the developing embryos and a poor cooling capacity or air velocity in the incubator. High (≥38.9°C) compared to normal (37.8°C) EST negatively affects survival and hatchling development (Lourens et al., 2005), and this may be related to changes in nutrient utilization or more specific changes in glucose metabolism. Download the entire article via the button below.