Hatchability in Relation to the Fat Content of the Diet

APPARENTLY there are no published data on the effect of the fat content of the diet of laying chickens on the hatchability of their eggs. In order to obtain information on this subject the writer conducted two experiments, in each of which diets of different fat content were fed to laying pullets and data were obtained on the time of occurrence of embryo mortality and on hatchability. The results of these experiments and the conclusions drawn from them are presented in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES The first experiment was started on October 18, 1939, and the second on November 6, 1940, For each experiment 200 White Leghorn pullets, hatched during the preceding spring, were carefully selected and distributed into eight groups. The distribution was so made that any effect the live weights of the individual pullets might have on feed consumption and egg production would be equalized among . . .