Carotenoids produce the yellows, oranges, reds, and some of the blues and greens. The pigmentation in feathers that is caused by carotenoids is mostly derived from the diet but there is some indication that the pigments can be deposited in the neonatal bird. A hypothesis that the hatching color of birds can be altered by the injection of color pigments was formed. To investigate this, an experiment was performed that entailed injecting neonatal Japanese Quail with beta-carotene and then comparing the results to the hatching color of normal neonatal Japanese Quail. The study utilized 10 control neonates injected with peanut oil and 10 experimental neonates which were injected with beta-carotene dissolved in peanut oil.
Results indicate that the vehicle the carotene was dissolved in caused the infection.
There were however, additional data from the experimental neonates that suggest the beta-carotene was more instrumental in the demise of the neonates than the vehicle of injection, peanut oil. The development and function of physiological systems during avian embryonic development are greatly effected by physical factors, such as temperature, humidity and temporary cooling time. The eggs were placed back in the incubator and allowed to continue developing until day 9. However, one out of the eight eggs cooled for 5 h resulted in extensive physical deformities, including undeveloped limbs and beak. It is not certain whether these malformations were due to cooling time or congenital defects.