Function of bilateral oviducts in double oviduct hens following surgery

A double oviduct line of Rhode Island Red chickens has been maintained as a closed flock at the Wisconsin Experiment Station since 1970. Sixty-four percent of the stock reared during the 3-yr study period had complete left and right oviducts. Experiments were designed to determine whether the right oviduct of double oviduct hens was functional. Two surgical procedures were chosen in which either a piece of the left ovary was transplanted to the right side, or the abdominal-midline tunica serosa was opened and the left ovary was pulled to the right side. In one experiment the left oviduct was also made nonfunctional. Laparotomized hens served as controls. Insemination with semen from dominant barred males as a genetic marker, followed by physical examination, confirmed right oviduct function. Hens that formed the egg in the normal left oviduct laid significantly more eggs of much greater weight and had higher percentage fertility than hens with functional right oviducts.