Absorption of Egg Yolk in Body Cavity of the Hen

Cole and Hutt (1953), Broadfeet et al. (1954), Fraps (unpublished), and poultrymen have reported a reproductive disorder of laying hens which has become more prevalent in recent years. These hens exhibit all physical signs of laying, but trapnest records indicate that they do not lay (“apparent layers”). Autopsies reveal that most of these birds have well developed ovaries, and ova which appear to be ovulating normally. In some instances, yolk is found in the body cavity, suggesting that ovulation was normal but that the oviduct failed to engulf the ova, and the yolk was not absorbed. The oviducts were abnormal or incomplete in some cases, but in an appreciable number of “apparent layers” the ovaries and oviducts appeared normal, and little or no egg yolk was present in the body cavity (Cole and Hutt, 1953). This suggested that ovulated ova which were not picked up by the oviduct were absorbed in the body cavity.