Abstract

Two trials were conducted to investigate the effects of short term exposure of layer-type breeder eggs to magnetic field (MF) of 7.5 Gauss (0.75 mT) at 50 Hz, for 0, 20, 40 and 60 min before incubation on the characteristics of egg contents, egg weight loss, embryonic growth and hatching time (Trial 1) and hatchability of eggs (Trials 1 and 2). 384 and 240 Leghorn and Baladi eggs were used in trials 1 and 2, respectively. Treatments were replicated 4 times in the two trials. Exposing Leghorn eggs to MF did not influence weight of egg contents, eggshell thickness, albumen and yolk heights, embryo weight, hatching time and hatchability of eggs. Eggs exposed to MF for 40 and 60 min had higher weight loss percentage and chick hatching weight when expressed on the basis of absolute value. It can be concluded that short term exposure of layer-type breeder eggs to MF of 7.5 Gauss (0.75 mT) at 50 Hz, for up to 60 min before incubation did not influence the characteristics of egg contents, embryonic growth, hatching time, and hatchability of eggs. MF exposure of eggs for 40 and 60 min increased egg weight loss during incubation, and chick weight at hatch day.

Key words: Magnetic field, layer eggs, embryonic growth, hatchability.