title: Lack of effect of oviposition time and parental age on chick weight when egg weight remains constant.
abstract: 1. An experiment was conducted utilising 480 eggs from broiler breeder hens to determine the effect of oviposition and parental age on 1-d-old chick weight when egg weight remained constant. 2. Neither the age of the breeder flock nor the time of oviposition had a significant effect on egg weight loss during the 18 d of incubation. Nor was there any effect on chick weight: egg weight ratio and 1-d-old chick weight when chicks were removed and weighed at the same time. 3. Hatching time was significantly affected by time of oviposition and age of parents. Afternoon eggs or eggs from older hens tended to hatch earlier than morning eggs or eggs from younger ones.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary School, The University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Yannakopoulos
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D004531:Eggs; D005260:Female; D010058:Oviposition; D013997:Time Factors