Changes in plasma iodohormone concentrations during the day before hatching in Gallus domesticus

Plasma concentrations of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) were measured at the onset of breathing, clicking and hatching in unstimulated chick embryos. There was a progressive increase in plasma T3 concentration from the onset of breathing (482 hr of incubation) to hatching (496 hr). Plasma T4 concentration did not change significantly between the start of breathing and clicking (494 hr) but decreased between the onset of clicking and hatching. Embryos stimulated with artificial clicks hatched 19 hr before their unstimulated counterparts but their plasma concentrations of T3 and T4 did not differ at hatching from those of unstimulated embryos; however, the plasma T3 concentration, but not T4, at hatching was higher than in unstimulated embryos incubated for a similar length of time, i.e. to the onset of breathing.