Poultry Studies, 19(2), 38-43

http://doi.org/10.34233/jpr.1205273

PROOF
RESEARCH PAPER

Exposing Hatching Quail Eggs to High Light Intensity and Its

Effect on Post-Hatch Testicular Histology

Hüseyin Baki Çiftci1,* , İsa Coşkun2 , Ali Aygün1

1
Selçuk University, Faculty of Agriculture, Departman of Animal Science, 42130,Konya, Turkey
2,
Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Kırşehir, Turkey

Article History Abstract

Received: 28 Apr 2022
Accepted: 02 Aug 2022 The objective of this study was to monitor the effect of exposing hatching quail eggs
First Online (15.11.2022) to high light intensity on testicular function Quail eggs were distributed into four
groups; dark application during the 18-day incubation period (C), light application
during the 18-day incubation period (L), 5 days of light + 13 days of darkness (5L), and
*Corresponding Author 5 days of darkness + 13 days of light (5K) and incubated. After the hatch, 40 chicks
Tel: +05394126862 were selected from each group and placed in rearing cages. On day 42 after hatching
E-mail: hbciftci@selcuk.edu.tr the quails were weighed and their testes were removed and then embedded in
paraffin. The blood glucose level of the 5K group was higher than the blood glucose
level of the L group, but there was no statistically important difference (P<0.05)
Keywords between the L, C, and 5L groups. The diameters of seminiferous tubules were bigger
Glucose in the 5L group as compared with the L group. The groups treated with light had
Light Intensity bigger tubule diameters than the control group. The number of Sertoli cells was
Quail significantly lower in the C group. Incubating quail eggs under five days of darkness
Testes and thirteen days of light have a favorable effect on post-hatch male fertility
potential.

Introduction

Light is one of the important environmental exposing the eggs for 12 and 24h/day under 250 lx light
factors affecting reproduction via the hypothalamic- intensity caused an increase in hatching rate and
pituitary-gonadal axis (Olanrewaju et al., 2006). Day hatchability (Riaz et al., 2021). Exposing eggs to light
length, light intensity, and light colors affect the has been reported to relieve stress on embryos (Huth
anatomic, metabolic, and reproductive function of and Archer 2015) and help them hatch. Riaz et al.
quail (Oishi and Lauber, 1973; Olanrewaju et al., 2006; (2021) have also reported that stress susceptibilities
Deep et al., 2012). Many studies have been conducted such as heterophil to lymphocyte ratios were
to show the impact of light on hatching rate, significantly lower in eggs exposed 12 h/day under 250
hatchability, and embryonic mortality (Özkan et al., lx light intensity. Therefore, during the incubation,
2012; Kaya and Aygün, 2019; Maman et al., 2018). But, exposing the eggs to light relieves the stress and causes
the data related to the effect of light intensity on the hatched chicks to start their life with better self-
reproduction is limited. Therefore, there is a growing confidence (Archer and Mench 2014).
trend of studies on the application of different light The effect of exposing hatching quail eggs to high
intensities and colors to increase reproductive light intensity on blood glucose levels has not been
performance (Retes et al. 2017). According to a study, studied in quail. But, some studies were performed to

Publishedby Poultry Research Institute (PRI) Ankara, Turkey.

 Poultry Studies, 19(2), 38-43 39

measure the effect of the lightning regime on blood approximately 10 cm above the eggs.The light intensity
glucose levels in broiler breed hens. Broiler eggs were was measured at different points on egg trays, ranging
incubated totally under darkness, 12 h of lightness from 5000 to 6000 lux, and it was manually fixed by
and 12 h of darkness, and 24 h of lightness. It was adjusting the distance to the LED.
reported that blood glucose concentration (mmol/L)
was increased by 12 h and 24 h lightness as compared Temperature and Humidity
to eggs incubated in darkness. The glucose
concentration in the 24 h lighting group was also For the first 14 days of incubation, the
significantly high over the 12 h lighting group temperature and humidity within the incubator were
(Yameen et al., 2020). set to 37.5 °C and 55-60% respectively. For the last
The effects of light intensity on reproductive three days of incubation, the temperature, and
performance and hormone concentrations have been humidity were adjusted to 37.2 °C and 75%.
largely studied in poultry. But, not enough studies have
been performed on quail, especially on the Chick Rearing and Feeding
performance of male quail. In a study, male quail were
exposed to six different types of lamps (incandescent, After the hatch, 40 chicks were randomly
white fluorescent, or blue, white, red, or green light- selected from each group and placed in rearing cages.
emitting diode (LED). It was reported that testicular Each rearing cage consisted of 5-layer plastic
weight was higher in compact fluorescent and red LED structures and each layer had a width of 60 cm and a
bulbs as compared to other groups. In white LED length of 120 cm (60x120). Stocking density was
groups, the area of the seminiferous tubules was adjusted to ten centimeters area per chick. During the
higher, while no differences were seen in sperm 42 days of the growing period, chicks were fed with a
concentration, motility, or fertility rates (Retes et al. diet providing 24% crude protein and 2900 kcal/kg
2017). Retes and his colleagues (2017) performed this metabolic energy. In the first week, the ambient
study on one day old male Japanese quails after hatch. temperature is set at 30-33 °C. Every week, the
But, we do not know the impact of light on incubating temperature was reduced by 3 °C until it reached 21
eggs and its effect on the reproductive and metabolic °C. The lightning program is set to continuous light for
function of hatched male quail after the incubation. the entire rearing period.
Therefore, the objective of this study was to monitor
the effect of exposing hatching quail eggs to high light Measurements of Blood Glucose Levels
intensity on testis volume, the number of Sertoli cells,
and blood glucose level. After the ten-day growing period, six chicks were
randomly selected from each group and weighted by
Materials and Methods using precision balances (Radwag, USA). Blood
glucose levels were measured using a blood glucose
Eggs and Grouping meter (IME-DC, Germany). A drop of blood, from the
wing, was placed on the test strip of the blood glucose
A total of 660 hatching quail eggs were used in meter, and the blood glucose level was measured.
this study, which were purchased from a private farm
in Konya. The eggs were randomly distributed into Measurement of Body Weight, Testes Weight, and Its
four groups (C, L, 5L, and 5K). Each group consisted of Fixation
160 eggs and a separate tray was designated for each
group. Experimental groups are displayed in Table 1. Quails were weighed on day 42 after hatching
using a balance, with 0.01 sensitivity and then
Table 1. The number of incubated eggs and light slaughtered. After the slaughter, their testes were
application, in each group, during the incubation carefully removed and weighed. Testes weights were
plotted in g and expressed as a percentage of
Groups The number of Applications bodyweights. Dissected testes were kept in 10%
incubated eggs formalin for tissue examination.
C 160 18 days of darkness
L 160 18 days of light Measurements of Diameter of Seminiferous Tubules
5L 160 5 days of light and 13 days of darkness and the Number of Sertoli Cells
5K 160 5 days of darkness and 13 days of light
Tissue samples were fixed in 10% formalin for 24
hours and dehydrated with graded alcohol then
Light Source and Intensity embedded in paraffin. Embedded tissues were cut at
5 μm thickness and placed on glass slides and stained
White Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs were with hematoxylin and eosin solutions by using
used as a light source. The white LED was placed standard paraffin-embedding methods.
Poultry Studies, 19(2), 38-43 40

The diameters of seminiferous tubules and the blood glucose levels between the 5K group (313
number of Sertoli cells were differentiated (Figure 1) mg/dL), group C (291 mg/dL), and group 5L (289
and measured by using an image processing and mg/dL) were also not statistically important (Table 2).
analysis system (ZEN 2012 SP2). Data showing the impact of light intensity on
tubule diameter and Sertoli cell number were displayed
in Table 3 and Figure 2. The diameters of seminiferous
tubules were greater in the 5K group than the diameter
of tubules in other groups (P<0.05, Table 3, Figure 2).
The diameters of seminiferous tubules were significantly
smaller in the C group as compared to the others
(P<0.05). The diameters of seminiferous tubules were
bigger in the 5L group as compared with the L group
(P<0.05, Table 3, Figure 2). The groups treated with high
light had bigger tubule diameters than the control group
(P<0.05). The number of Sertoli cells was significantly
lower in the C group than the number of Sertoli cells in
the other groups (P<0.05, Table 1).

Discussion

Light intensity during incubation, as well as light

Figure 1. Photomicrograph of Sertoli cells, indicated colour, affect the bodyweight of birds. In a study,
with arrows, differentiated by a big white nucleus and quail eggs were incubated under white LEDs, green
dark small nucleolus LEDs, red LEDs, and darkness (control). Growth rates,
after the hatch, were higher (P<0.05) in birds from
eggs incubated under dark and white LED (Coelho et
al., 2021). In another study, the positive effect of
Statistical Analysis continuous lightning during incubation on body weight
at hatching was reported by Farghly and Mahrose
For the statistical analysis of the data, initial
(2012). According to their report, birds produced from
assumptions regarding parametric tests were
eggs exposed to light during the incubation period had
questioned. For this purpose, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov
significantly higher (P≤0.05) post-hatch daily weight
and Levene tests were used to determine normality
gain (Farghly and Mahrose 2012). In another study, the
and variance homogeneity, respectively. After meeting
effect of different light sources on the post-hatch
the parametric test assumptions for all variables, the
hypothesis tests were conducted using variance bodyweight of female Japanese quail was also studied.
analysis. When the difference between groups was It was reported that; the lowest body weight score was
found to be statistically significant, Tukey's multiple obtained under compact fluorescent light (Bobadilla-
comparison test was used to identify its cause. All Mendez et al., 2016). In another study, the effect of
statistical analyses employed a significance level of different types of lambs on the bodyweight of post-
0.05 and were conducted using Minitab software. hatch male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)
was studied. Higher body weight scores were observed
Results with incandescent lam 35 days after hatching (Retes et
al., 2017). In this study, the light intensity did not affect
The data relating to body weights, testicular the body and testes weights 42 days after hatching.
weights (g and %), and blood glucose levels in the C, L, Here, we use the light intensity of 5000 to 6000 lux
5L, and 5K groups were displayed in Table 2. The C, L, during the incubation and we measured body weight at
5L, and 5K groups had testes weights of 5.86 g, 4.71 g, 42 days of age. This might be the reason why we could
5.62 g, and 5.94 g, respectively. But, no statistically not see significant differences.
significant differences between the groups were seen. Exposure of quails to different light intensities and
Testis weights, as a percentage of bodyweight, were colors can influence testiscular development. According
determined as 3.37%, 2.89%, 3.17%, and 3.46% in the to a study, higher testicular weights were observed in
C, L, 5L, and 5K groups, respectively, with no quails reared under a compact fluorescent bulb at 35
statistically significant variations between the groups. days of age. But at 57 days of age, the highest testicular
The blood glucose level of the 5K group (313 mg/dL) weights were observed in quails reared under white LED
was higher than the blood glucose level of the L group (Retes et al., 2017). According to another study,
(272 mg/dL), but there was no statistically important conducted on three weeks old sexually immature male
difference (P<0.05) between the L group, C (291 Japanese quails, testicular volume and seminiferous
mg/dL) and 5L (289 mg/dL) groups. The differences in tubule diameters were significantly higher in quails
 Poultry Studies, 19(2), 38-43 41

Table 2. Body and testes weights and blood glucose levels in experimental groups

Group Bodyweight (42 d; g) Testes weight, g Testes weight (%) Glucose (mg/dL)
ab
C 173.48 5.86 3.37 291
b
L 162.79 4.71 2.89 272
ab
5L 176.78 5.62 3.17 289
a
5K 171.78 5.94 3.46 313
SEM 5.932 0.407 0.202 9.230
P 0.418 0.150 0.217 0.042
a-b
Data with different superscripts in the same column are statistically different (P<0.05)

Table 3. The diameters of seminiferous tubules and the number of Sertoli cells in testes of quails in different
experimental groups

Groups Diameters of seminiferous tubules (µm) Count of Sertoli cell

d b
C 86.10 3.60
c a
L 119.19 4.57
b a
5L 152.70 4.67
a a
5K 169.91 5.07
SEM 3.68 0.16
P 0.001 0.012
a-d
Data with different superscripts in the same column are statistically different (P<0.05)

Figure 2. Photomicrograph of seminiferous tubules. The smallest diameters of seminiferous tubules were measured in
the control group (K). Lightning increased the diameter of seminiferous tubules as compared with that of the control
group. The biggest diameters of tubules were measured in the 5K group as compared with other groups.
Poultry Studies, 19(2), 38-43 42

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