Establishing true fertility in hatching eggs

In hatchery practice problems with fertility are usually first recognized during the candling procedure, when the number of clear eggs is higher than expected. To identify the time and the cause of embryonic death, the hatchery manager may perform an analysis of candled eggs. However, if candling is performed at transfer at day 18, as is often the case, it can be difficult to discriminate between true infertile eggs and eggs containing an embryo that has died before the blood ring stage. This is because membranes from dead embryos degenerate while the eggs are still in the incubator.

By candling at days 7 - 10, it is possible to reliably discriminate between true infertility and early embryonic death for two reasons. Firstly, because embryonic membranes formed during the first days of incubation can still be recognized. Secondly, in clear eggs collected between days 7 - 10, a change in the color of yolk as a result of embryonic activity is clearly visible. The active young embryo transports water from albumen to yolk, which results in a whitish or light yellow ring around the embryo.

The fertile, unincubated egg contains an embryo ( germinal disc or blastoderm) that developed from the fertilized oöcyte (zygote) during egg formation in the oviduct. The oöcyte is the female gamete that floats on the yolk. When the yolk is released in the oviduct, spermatozoa (male gametes) penetrate the yolk membrane, after which only one spermatozoon fuses with the oöcyte to form the fertile zygote. Finally, during egg formation in the oviduct, the zygote develops into the blastoderm, with a recognizable Area Pellucida (AP) surrounded by an Area Opaca (AO) (figure 1a). If for whatever reason the spermatozoa do not reach the oöcyte, the egg remains infertile and the oöcyte will degenerate to form nothing more than a small germinal disc. The infertile germinal disc is visible as a compact white spot with ruffled edges (figure 1b). If hatching eggs are analyzed on arrival at the hatchery, before incubation, any issues with infertility can be communicated with the breeder farm without delay.

Advice

• Candle eggs at transfer (day 18) as a standard routine.
• If the number of clears is above acceptable or allowable standards, perform egg analysis, to distinguish between infertility and early embryonic death.
• Consider candling followed by egg analysis between day 7 - 10, as a more reliable means of measuring true fertility.
• Analyse a minimum of 10 fresh, un-incubated eggs on a regular basis when issues with fertility are suspected.
• If true infertility is too high, communicate with the breeder farm about male AND female management.
• If the rate of early death before the blood ring stage is too high, evaluate conditions during storage and the transport of eggs - and ensure that the setter is bringing the eggs to ­incubation temperature rapidly and without interruption.

 

_{Figure 1a - Drawing showing the appearance of a fertile germinal disc}           Figure 1b - Drawing showing the appearance of a infertile germinal disc 

_{Drawings reproduced with kind permission of the publisher from Optimizing Chick Production in Broiler Breeders, by Robinson FE, Fasenko GM and Renema RA. Volume 1: Broiler breeder production series, Spotted Cow Press, Alberta, Canada.}