Production of eggs or normal chicks was depressed when practical diets containing 168 g or 137 g of crude protein (CP)/kg were not supplemented with synthetic biotin. Overall egg production and hatchability of fertile eggs was significantly (P less than 0.05) higher with the diets containing 137 g CP/kg. Biotin requirement was higher with the diet containing 168 g CP/kg and was estimated to be about 100 micrograms of available biotin/kg, equivalent to a daily intake of 16 micrograms for food-restricted hens. Biotin concentrations in egg yolk and chick plasma were related to maternal intake and increased with maternal age. The minimum yolk biotin concentration indicative of adequate maternal status was about 550 micrograms/g. Chicks from young hens fed insufficient biotin had the poorest biotin status at hatching and their growth potential and viability were reduced.

1. Broiler parent stock were fed daily allowances of 1.88, 1.73 or 1.52 MJ apparent metabolisable energy (AME) per bird at two different daily protein intakes (27.0 and 21.3 g crude protein (CP) per bird from 21 to 64 weeks of age. 2. The decrease in hatchability that occurred on the high protein (27.0 g CP), low energy (1.52 MJ AME) allowance from 26 to 36 weeks of age was due to an increase in the percentage of dead embryos in the second week of incubation and an increase in the number of "pipped" eggs at the end of incubation. 3. The low hatchability of eggs from birds on the 1.88 MJ AME allowance from 37 to 64 weeks could be related to the incidence of deaths in the first 5 d of the incubation period. 4. Malformations and malpositions of the embryo were not affected by maternal energy or protein allowance.

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