The hypothesis was tested that enhanced embryonic carbohydrate metabolism may enable embryos to survive egg storage effects. As lines of broiler breeders age, some lines resist detrimental effects of egg storage on embryonic survival, whereas others do not. Fertile eggs were obtained from two lines differing in storage ability. Eggs from each line by age group were stored for 1 or 14 d prior to setting. Eggs were distributed randomly into a single machine and incubated under standard conditions. Beginning at 17 d of incubation, immediately prior to the plateau stage in oxygen consumption, embryos from each of the treatment groups were sampled for BW, organ growth, glycogen concentration, and plasma glucose concentrations. Sampling continued through hatching. Plasma glucose concentrations increased significantly, and hepatic glycogen concentrations declined as embryos approached hatching. The rate at which glycogen was accrued into muscle and heart tissue displayed a significant three-way interaction among line, age, and storage. Embryos from the line that resisted storage mortality maintained greater glycogen concentrations in muscle and heart tissues than those from the line and age with diminished survival rates. It was concluded that embryonic survival rates differ following egg storage because of the ability of the embryo to accrue and maintain adequate carbohydrate for growth and function of vital demand tissues.

Two lines of turkey poults, one selected for rapid growth at 16 wk of age (F line) and the other a randombred control line (RBC2) were used to investigate the effect of selection for rapid growth on jejunal O2 consumption and glucose transport as well as whole-body O2 consumption. All trials used unsexed poults and were designed as a randomized complete block with day and line as independent variables. In Trial 1, 120 turkey poults, fed a standard starter ration (25.5% CP), were used to examine the effect of selection on feed intake, body weight gain, and efficiency from hatching (Day 0) to 13 d of age. At Day 14, 36 of 60 birds from each line were killed to measure intestinal length and weight and jejunal O2 consumption after 18 h of feed deprivation. Compared with the RBC2 line, the F line had relatively shorter but heavier small intestinal segments when adjusted by 18 h feed-deprived body weight (FBW; P < 0.001). The F line consumed more O2 over the entire jejunum adjusted to FBW than RBC2 line (43.8 vs 34.6 nmol O2/min.g FBW; P < 0.001). Jejunal ouabain- and cycloheximide-sensitive O2 consumption were greater (P < 0.05) in the F line. In Trial 2, 16 14-d-old poults from each line were used to measure in vitro jejunal glucose transport rate. There was no difference in glucose transport of the jejunum (nanomoles per minute per gram of FBW) between the lines. In Trial 3, 20 poults from each line were used to measure whole-body O2 consumption at 7 to 10 d of age. The F and RBC2 lines had similar whole-body O2 consumption rate per gram of FBW. These data suggest that selection of turkeys for rapid growth at 16 wk of age did not increase efficiency of jejunal glucose uptake in 14-d-old turkey poults.

Thirty-six hundred British United Turkey hatching eggs were used in two separate trials to test whether prestorage incubation (PRESI) treatments of 0, 6, and 12 h (Trial 1) or 0, 7, and 14 h (Trial 2) could improve the hatchability of eggs stored (17 C) for 14 versus 4 d. The development of the embryos (n = 30) was staged before and after exposing eggs to the various PRESI treatments. Embryonic development was also established after storage to ascertain whether embryonic development was occurring during storage. The remaining eggs in each trial were split into three groups (n = 500) and incubated for 28 d to examine embryonic mortality and hatchability. No changes were observed in embryonic development due to egg storage. Embryos were significantly more developed as the number of PRESI h increased; therefore, embryos from different PRESI treatments were placed in storage at different stages of development. Early mortality (1 to 7 d of incubation), mortality at internal and external pipping, and hatchability of fertile eggs were significantly reduced in eggs stored for 14 versus 4 d. The various PRESI treatments did not significantly affect the mortality or hatchability of eggs stored for 4 d. However, the hatchability of eggs incubated prior to storage for 12 h and then stored for 14 d was restored to the levels reported for eggs subjected to the treatment that represents the industry norm (0 h of PRESI and 4 d storage). These results indicate that embryos of eggs stored for 14 d, which have developmentally advanced to the stage of complete hypoblast formation (PRESI for 12 h), have a survival advantage over eggs stored for 14 d that have not been subjected to any PRESI.

The effect of genetic strain (Ross 308; Cobb 500) and parent flock age [young (29 wk), peak (Ross = 34 wk; Cobb = 36 wk), postpeak (40 wk), mature (45 wk), old (55 wk), and very old (59 wk)] on eggshell conductance and embryonic metabolism were examined. At each flock age, eggs from each strain were incubated for 21.5 d in individual metabolic chambers to measure embryonic O(2) intake and CO(2) output. From these data, the respiratory quotient (RQ) and metabolic heat production were calculated. Data were analyzed by the GLM procedure of SAS at P < or = 0.05. Neither strain nor flock age influenced conductance. Total embryonic O(2) consumption, CO(2) output, RQ, and metabolic heat production over the entire incubation period were not affected by strain. Daily differences existed between strains for embryonic O(2) intake (1, 7, 16, 17, 19, 20 d of incubation), CO(2) output (1 to 4, 16 to 20 d of incubation), and heat production (4, 7, 16 to 19 d of incubation). Embryos from young, mature, old, and very old flocks produced significantly more total embryonic heat over the entire 21 d (1,712, 1,677, 1,808, and 1,832, respectively) than embryos from peak (1,601) and postpeak (1,693) flocks. Average RQ for the entire incubation period was higher in embryos from mature flocks compared with all other flock ages. Daily differences among embryos from different flock ages were shown for O(2) consumption (all but d 8 of incubation), CO(2) production (all but d 7 and 9 of incubation), and heat output. The results showed that genetic strain and parent flock age influence daily embryonic metabolism, especially during the early and latter days of incubation. These daily differences coincide with the days of incubation having a higher incidence of embryonic mortality; these 2 factors may be related. Further investigation into the relationship between embryonic metabolic heat production and mortality during incubation may lead to the development of specific incubation conditions for different genetic strains and flock ages.

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