Hatchability, embryonic mortality and hatching time of Japanese quails as affected by strain and holding position

Hatchability, embryonic mortality and hatching time of two strain$ (PQ 1 and PQ 2) of quails stored either in narrow-end-up (NEU) or broad-end-up (BEU) position were studied. Eggs stored in broad-end-up position had significantly higher hatchability than those held in narrow-end-up pollition in both the strains. The higher hatchability was mainly due to lower early-mortality. Strain PQ 2 (layer-type) had significantly higher hatchability than the broiler-type strain (PQ 1). Hatching time was characterized by non-normality of distribution in the form of positive skewness and positive kurtosis. However, the pattern of hatching as reflected in the cumulative percentage of chicks hatched during different periods and mean hatching time were not affected by strain and holding position.