Short Periods of Incubation During 10-Day Egg Storage (SPIDES): Effects on Hatchability, Hatchling Traits, and Productive Performance of Japanese Quail

Abstract

This study evaluated short periods of incubation during egg storage (SPIDES) in fertile Japanese quail eggs stored for 10 days. A total of 600 hatching eggs were randomly assigned to four treatments (150 eggs/treatment; three replicates of 50 eggs): T1, control; T2, 2-h SPIDES; T3, 3-h SPIDES; and T4, 4-h SPIDES. SPIDES was applied twice, on storage days 4 and 8, at 37.7°C and 55–60% relative humidity. T3 produced the highest hatchability of fertile eggs; hatchability was higher than in T2 and T4 but did not differ significantly from T1. T3 also showed lower total and early embryonic mortality, whereas apparent fertility and mid- and late-embryonic mortality were not significantly affected. T3 produced the shortest incubation duration and hatch window and the greatest chick length, whereas T1 and T2 had higher chick hatch weights than T3 and T4. For post-hatch evaluation, 45 healthy chicks from each treatment were reared to 35 days of age. T3 showed the highest final body weight and total weight gain, the lowest feed intake, and the best feed conversion ratio, while total chick mortality did not differ among treatments. Under the conditions of this study, applying 3-h SPIDES on days 4 and 8 of a 10-day storage period produced the most favorable overall response among the tested durations. These findings suggest that an appropriately timed SPIDES program may help mitigate the adverse effects of prolonged egg storage on hatchability and subsequent productive performance in Japanese quail.