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Effects of incubation temperature and warm‐water misting on hatching success in artificially incubated mallard duck eggs
Author(s) -
Stubblefield William A.,
Toll Paul A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620120411
Subject(s) - hatching , incubation , zoology , incubation period , egg incubation , biology , reproduction , ecology , biochemistry
Artificial incubation of eggs is employed in one‐generation avian reproduction studies conducted under laboratory conditions. Maximizing overall hatch success while minimizing variability due to experimental methods can increase statistical power for quantifying effects caused by the test material. This study evaluated the effects of incubation temperature and daily warm‐water misting of duck eggs on hatching success in a 2 × 2 matrix. Treatment groups were subjected to incubation temperatures of 37.2 or 37.5°C, with (M) or without (NM) misting. Eggs were collected daily from 15 breeding pairs per treatment group during a 10‐week laying period. Within appropriate test groups, eggs were misted daily throughout the 24‐d incubation and 4‐d hatching period. Hatching success (as a percentage of fertile eggs) was 71, 32, 18, and 10 for the 37.5 M, 37.5 NM, 37.2 M, and 37.2 NM groups, respectively. Egg weight significantly decreased, as a percentage of initial egg weight, in misted eggs; no temperature‐related differences in egg weight were observed. Results indicate that an incubation temperature of 37.5°C with daily warm‐water misting proved to be the most effective treatment for maximizing overall hatching success.