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ABSTRACT
The use of avian egg bioassays for the determination of embryonic mortality and development effects of toxicant exposure is widespread in ecotoxicology. While these studies have a number of experimental limitations to consider, they offer a rapid, cost effective alternative to maternal feeding studies. In preparing to conduct such studies a number of factors must be taken into consideration, including solubility of the toxicant, dissolution solvent, injection site, volume and incubation position. Species-specific requirements for humidity and position should be considered in order to optimize successful incubation with different species. Japanese quail eggs, were injected prior to incubation with 1µl or 5µl of corn oil, triolein or a fatty acid mix, using air cell or albumen injection. Eggs were incubated according to standard poultry practices or in a prone position to determine if there were any differences in hatching success. Hatching success was reduced in eggs that were injected with 5µl and those incubated in a prone position. The highest rate of hatching success was observed for eggs injected with 1µl of the fatty acid mixture through the air cell.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Kara Duffy and Nichola Thompson for their valuable technical assistance, as well as Gary Heinz and the reviewers for their helpful insights.
Funding
This work was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees. The conclusions and opinions presented here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of any of the funding agencies, the Hudson River Trustees, or the United States of America.