Increased CO2 Levels during the First Half of Incubation at High Altitude Modifies Embryonic Development of Fertile Leghorn Breeder Eggs

The exchange of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) within an incubator has a significant impact on embryonic development (ED) and hatching processes. This study examines the influence of non-ventilation (NV) conditions during the first ten days of incubation at high altitudes on Leghorn hens hatching eggs. Five hundred four hatching eggs were equally divided into three treatment groups and placed in twelve incubators (R = 4). The first group was subjected to standard ventilated conditions (V) during the setting phase. The ventilation inlet holes of the remaining incubators in the NV treatments were closed with either micropore (M) or polypropylene (P) tape, referred to as NVM and NVP groups, respectively. These two different airtight settings were intended to allow for a gradual rise in CO2 naturally generated by the embryos. Results indicate that carbon dioxide concentration gradually increased during the first half of incubation, reaching 1.42% in the NVM group and 1.20% in the NVP group, while the V condition group remained at 0.15%. From 10 days of incubation onwards, normal V conditions were restored in all incubators. The highest hatchability of fertile eggs (HFE) was shown by the NVP group (55.7%), followed by the V (52.6%) and NVM (38.6%) groups. The NVP group showed a greater yolk-free body mass (YFBM) from 10 days of incubation until the hatch basket transfer. NV conditions during the first 10 days of incubation at high altitude produced higher YFBM with gradually decreasing yolk sac mass. In comparison to the NVM and V conditions, the particular NVP condition showed a beneficial impact on the quality of hatched chicks. Sustaining NVP condition (1.2% of CO2) throughout the first half of incubation at high altitude generated the optimal environment in the incubator ensuring the best hatchability results. This study highlights how important it is for hatchery managers to recognize the influence of low O2 and high levels of CO2 on the development trajectories of Leghorn embryos during early incubation at high altitudes.

Assigning hatchlings to eggs:Is relative mass assignment an accurate method?

Background: Accurately assigning hatchlings to the eggs from which they hatched is a prerequisite to understanding how the composition and environment of eggs affect the growth and survival of nestlings. Correctly assigning hatchlings to their eggs can be a challenging endeavor, however, because multiple eggs within the same clutch can hatch at essentially the same time. Egg and hatchling mass are highly correlated in most bird species, and thus assigning eggs to hatchlings using their relative mass(e.g., matching the heaviest hatchling to the heaviest candidate egg) could prove extremely useful.Methods: To assess its potential utility, I applied relative mass assignment(RMA) retrospectively to a dataset of 133 Common Grackle(Quiscalus quiscula) nests in which all egg-hatchling dyads were determined unequivocally.Results: I found that RMA correctly assigned approximately 90% of hatchlings to their eggs when 2-4 hatchlings were present between checks. The number of nests in which hatchlings could not be assigned to their egg, however, increased monotonically from 13 to 46 to 78% for nests containing 2, 3, and 4 hatchlings, respectively, due to the greater likelihood that the mass of hatchlings or their candidate eggs was identical.Conclusions: Although RMA correctly identified the vast majority of egg-hatchling dyads, researchers should use this method with caution, because it will always inflate positive egg-size effects and thus could potentially result in erroneously reporting significant effects.

Large-brained birds lay smaller but heavier clutches

The brain is among the most energetically costly organs in vertebrates,and thus trade-offs have been hypothesized to exert constraints on brain size evolution.The energy trade-off hypothesis(ETH) predicts that reducing the energy consumption of reproduction or other costly tissues should compensate for the cost of a large brain.Egg production in birds requires a large proportion of the total energy budget,and a clutch mass in some bird species can outweigh the body mass of the female.To date,this hypothesis has mainly been tested in mammals and ectothermic animals such as anurans and fishes.We collated data on adult brain size,body mass and eggproduction traits such as clutch size,egg mass and annual broods from published studies,and conducted a phylogenetic comparative test of the interplay between egg-production investment and brain size evolution across bird species.After controlling for phylogenetic relationships and body size,we find a negative correlation between brain size and clutch size across 1395 species,which favored ETH.However,when egg mass was integrated in models,positive associations were detected between brain size and mass of eggs(via egg mass,clutch mass and annual total egg mass).Our results suggest that brain size trades off against egg-production only via certain aspects(e.g.,clutch size).By contrast,a positive relationship between brain size and total egg reproduction(e.g.,clutch mass and annual total egg mass) implied increased total energy budget outweighing energy allocation across bird species.Our study shows that there is no general energy trade-off between brain size and eggreproduction investment,and suggests that brain size evolution follows mixed strategies across bird species.

Variability and Correlation of Egg Qualitative Characteristics in Ducks of Shaoxing Breed

Birds＇ selection on increase of egg＇s mass resulted in changes in the ratio of egg components. In this regard, now selection on improvement of eggs＇ quali- ty became one of the most important directions of selection work. In this work, the interrelation among various qualitative characteristics of eggs of Shanxing egg ducks breed, their variability and an individual assessment of ducks-mothers was considered. Prospects of carrying out selection on increase of yolk ratio in egg were estimated.