Influence of breeders age on initial embryonic development (from 0 to 72 hours) of Japanese quails during incubation

Abstract

The initial stages of early embryonic development were analyzed as a function of the incubation period and age of Japanese quail breeders. A total of 203 Japanese quails housed in 29 conventional laying cages with 5 females and 2 males at 31, 39, 48, and 59 weeks of age were used, and the fertile eggs from these breeders were selected and incubated. The eggs were opened, and the embryos were isolated, fixed in a glutaraldehyde solution, analyzed and classified according to the stage of development. For after laying and the incubation periods of 24, 48, and 72 hours, the embryos presented, on average, Hamburger-Hamilton stages XI, HH 6.1, HH 12.7, and HH 18.5, respectively, with no effect of breeder age. It was also observed that, between 31 and 59 weeks of age in Japanese quail breeders, the eggs become longer and wider, with greater weight, volume, and area. Therefore, it is concluded that the age of the Japanese quail mother influences the weight, length, width, volume, and area of the eggs but does not influence the embryonic development up to 72 hours.

Keywords

• coturnix japonica; egg size; embryo; fertile eggs; HH stages.