Gas Exchange of the Avian Egg Time, Structure, and Function

Data are presented for oxygen consumption water loss duringincubation water vapor conductance of the shell and pore numberof avian eggs and the way in which these values relate not onlyto egg mass but also to incubation time. It is proposed thatall these functions are proportional to the product of egg massand rate of development where the latter is defined as the inverseof incubation time. These interrelationships account at theend of incubation for similar O₂ and CO₂ tensions in the airspace of eggs utilization of calories (0.5 kcal g^–1) andwater loss (15 g g^–1)