Variability of shell conductance and gas exchange of chicken eggs

In 395 fertilized chicken eggs (strain Warren) obtained from a commercial hatchery the following coefficients of variation (SD/mean) were found: egg shell conductance for water vapor, GH2O, 22%; freshly laid egg weight, W, 8%; the specific conductance, gH2O (= GH2O/W), 22%. In 20 eggs selected for widely varying gH2O (range 57%-195% of the mean, 0.246 mg/(day X torr X g), the specific O2 uptake and the CO2 output, measured on days 16-19 of incubation, showed a maximum at medium gH2O values, decreasing at both lower and higher gH2O. The variations of gH2O in the selected eggs were shown to cause a variation of water loss up to hatching from 9 to 26% (average 15%), and a variation of the O2 tension from 84 to 123 torr, and of the CO2 tension from 18 to 54 torr, in the perichorioallantoic air space on days 16-19 of incubation. Mechanisms responsible for the observed changes in the metabolic rate and for the physiological adjustments to varied egg shell conductance are discussed.