Influence of Ovulation Rate on the Tendency of the Fowl to Produce Eggs in Clutches

LENGTH OF INTERVAL AND CLUTCHES THE general facts regarding the phenomenon of egg production in the domestic hen are fairly well known. Atwood (1929) showed that the size of the clutch (eggs laid successively) is dependent upon the interval (period between layings). Hens tend to have a characteristic length of interval, but among individual birds the interval may vary from 24 to 30 hours. The interval is usually somewhat over 24 hours, thus causing successive eggs to be laid at a later hour each day until the clutch is terminated. Thus, if a bird with approximately a 28-hour interval lays the first egg of the clutch at 8 a.m., the second will be laid at about 12 m., the third at about 4 p.m., and the next egg, which would be scheduled to be produced at 8 p.m., is usually not laid. Thus, the clutch is terminated, and there occurs . . .