Glucose Metabolism of the Avian Egg

SUMMARY The concentrations and total amounts of glucose in the different parts of the avian egg were measured during incubation. Eggs of Pekin‐Campbell ducks and of Australorp and White Leghorn chickens were used. Although there were differences between the species examined the general trend was the same. The results suggest that glucose is not the only source of energy during the beginning embryonic development. The glucose concentrations in blood, amniotic and allantoic fluids start at a high level, fall to a lower level, which is maintained for a week, and then rise again during the last period of incubation. The maximum amounts of glucose and of water in the amniotic and allantoic fluids occur at different stages of incubation. The formation and resorption of the amniotic fluid are discussed in relation to these data.