A Newly Discovered Effect of Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Damage to the Hatchability of Fowl Eggs

When hens were given an experimental diet that consisted of 99% conventional feed and 1% prepared conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), C16:0, C18:0, CLA-1 and CLA-2 concentrations in the serum and yolk lipids remarkably increased, together with the rise of the melting point of the yolk lipid. Many embryos of eggs from hens given the experimental diet died in the early stages of incubation, and the hatchability was 13.1%, as compared with 92.8% of the control eggs. However, hens' health remained normal.