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Abstract
Extreme variations in incubation temperature affect the broiler embryo and, ultimately, post hatch broiler performance. Previous studies have implied that incubation temperature may impact chick quality and sex of the chick. The control of both parameters would be economically beneficial to the poultry industry. This work evaluated embryonic differences between a modern high yielding broiler and a 1950s meat-type chicken strain when incubated at a 1950s incubation temperature (37.7C) and investigated incubation temperature effects on modern broiler sex ratios. These data suggest that the incubation temperature of 50 years ago is too high for the modern broiler. Wide temperature variations (0.8C) away from standard temperature were not found to influence the sex ratio of broiler chicks at hatch.