The Effects of Egg Windowing on the Viability and Longevity of Gallus gallus Embryos in an Undergraduate Teaching Lab

The observation and manipulation of chicken embryos in ovo has been useful for understanding the development of vertebrates. However, the viability and longevity of the embryos are severely compromised even by simple manipulations to the egg shell. We have explored experimental protocols that promote the viability of embryos in ovo and ex ovo for use in an undergraduate teaching laboratory setting. Here, we demonstrate that a modified in ovo windowing technique increases survival time over an ex ovo method but with concomitant loss of spatial and temporal examination of chick embryo development.