Gas exchange during storage and incubation of Avian eggs: effects on embryogenesis, hatchability, chick quality and post-hatch growth

Abstract

Embryonic development is a dynamic process that requires a fine balance between several factors in order to achieve an optimum hatchability and chick quality. These factors include the background of the embryo, such as genetic line of the breeders, the age of the breeder, egg weight, and factors related to the environment in which the egg is stored and incubated, such as temperature, humidity, gas levels and altitude. Gas exchanges are of fundamental importance for embryonic development during incubation and may affect the livability of the embryo. This paper reviews the roles of the gaseous environment (i.e. O 2 and CO 2 ) around hatching eggs during storage and during incubation and the effect it might have on the survival of the developing embryos and the chicks that hatch. The state of the art on the different attempts to establish the optimum requirements of different gases that promote the optimal developmental trajectories at different periods during incubation is presented. The roles and consequences of different levels of O 2 and CO 2 during storage and incubation on hatchability, incubation duration, hatching process, embryo growth, embryo mortality, organ development and morphology, metabolism, blood acid-base balance, chick quality and chick post-hatch growth are reviewed.

The chicken embryo and its micro environment during egg storage and early incubation

“…If the carbon dioxide pressure outside the egg is higher than inside the egg, the loss of carbon dioxide from the eggs halts and the albumen pH may decrease as a result of the carbon dioxide production from the embryo. Whether high carbon dioxide levels in the incubator during early incubation are positive for embryonic development has been reviewed by Onagbesan et al (2007) and is still an important topic for research (De Smit, L. et al, 2006;Bruggeman et al, 2007).…”

Egg morphometric analyses in chickens and some selected birds

“…The knowledge and information on morphometric parameters is therefore essential for understanding an animal and its reproductive biology in particular (Danilov, 2000). Egg morphometric parameters such as egg weight, egg width, albumen and yolk weights are very important in poultry because these factors influence egg quality and grading (Farooq et al, 2001), reproductive fitness of the chickens and embryonic development (Onagbesan et al, 2007). Effects of feed (Shapira, 2010) and housing system (Wang et al, 2009) on egg composition and its quality have been reported.…”

Physiological Relationships of the Middle and Late Post-Hatch Performance of Broilers to their Embryo and Eggshell Characteristics

“…The existence of relationships between incubation temperature (Lourens et al, 2005;Yalcin et al, 2005;Hulet et al, 2007;Leksrisompong et al, 2007;Molenaar et al, 2011a;Willemsen et al, 2011) and relative humidity (Bruzual et al, 2000a, b) on embryonic and post-hatch broiler development have been reported in earlier research work. Similarly, several researchers have previously suggested that set egg weight (Pinchasov, 1991;Vieira and Moran, 1999;Moran, 2007;Wolanski et al, 2007;Abiola et al, 2008), egg nutritional composition (Moran, 2007), yolk sac nutrient utilization by embryo (Murakami, 1992), eggshell temperature (Lourens et al, 2005;Molenaar et al, 2011b), incubational oxygen (Onagbesan et al, 2007;Celen et al, 2009) and CO 2 concentrations (Everaet et al, 2007;Onagbesan et al, 2007;Willemsen et al, 2008), incubation length (van de Ven et al, 2011), and incubational egg weight loss (Peebles et al, 2005) may also have an effect on broiler embryogenesis and post-hatch growth and development. In many of the studies discussed earlier, an examination of the influence of various treatments imposed during incubation on overall broiler post-hatch performance was limited to within 48 h post-hatch. In a companion article, effects of pre-hatch physiological variables such as egg internal temperature and eggshell water vapor conductance on the posthatch broiler growth and performance of corresponding chicks through 3 d of age were presented by Pulikanti et al (2012b).…”