RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHELL POROSITY, SHELL THICKNESS, EGG WEIGHT-LOSS, AND EMBRYONIC-DEVELOPMENT IN JAPANESE-QUAIL EGGS

Japanese quail eggs that hatched (H) or pipped (PIP) exhibited less we ight loss through 15 d of incubation than did eggs that died late (LD) , whereas eggs containing early dead (ED) embryos exhibited the greate st weight loss. The pore concentration at the large end of each egg wa s greatest in H eggs when compared with all other types. The pore conc entration at the equator was greatest in H eggs and least in the eggs of the ED embryos. All other egg types lay statistically between these two types with regard to equator porosity. The small end pore concent ration was similar in H, INF, and LD eggs and in the LD, PIP, and ED e ggs. The least number was exhibited by the ED eggs and most by the H e ggs. The thinnest shells at the small end were exhibited by H eggs, wh ereas thicker small end shells were exhibited by ED, LD, and PIP egg t ypes. No differences were observed at the large end or equator. The da ta suggest that ED eggs exhibit excessive weight loss even though shel l porosity was lower and shell thickness was similar to other egg type s. This suggests that some functional component of the egg such as the shell membrane or albumen may contribute to this excessive weight los s. A similar statement can be made for LD eggs, which experienced grea ter weight loss through 15 d than did PIP or H eggs.