M. OBLAKOVA1, M. LALEV1 and V. TODOROVA2
1 Agricultural Institute, Hybrid Centre of Poultry Breeding, BG - 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
2 Institute of Animal Sciences, BG - Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
OBLAKOVA, M., M. LALEV and V. TODOROVA, 2004. Comparative study of embryos in mini and normal forms of turkeys. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 10: 485-489
The aim of this study was to establish the relative intensity of the embryo growth during the embryogenesis toward the weight of incubating eggs in mini-turkey, carrier of the recessive pigmy gene dw and turkey with the normal phenotype of the White Imperial Breed. Two groups each 120 eggs, having weight near to the average of the relative forms, homogenized up to 0.05 grams, were used. Another two groups, each 120 eggs having approximately the same weigh and size were formed. The loss of moisture and weight development the chicken during hatching were studied. From the second two groups were killed 50 chicken for weighing the residual yolk and estimating the weight of carcass. The data of loss of moisture and rate of embryo and egg weight slowed that up to 25 th day the mini form embryo growth process was more intensive in White Imperial Breed. The weight difference between first two groups of hatched chicken was equal to the difference between eggs.
The results of the embryo development and the weight of chickens from the second two groups showed that chicken with approximately the same carcass weight were hatched from equal eggs.
The low weight of the mini-turkey chickens notched was a result of low weight of the eggs, rather then intensive growth of embryo during its development.