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Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance
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Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance Mohamed Ibrahem El Sabry a,n,1, Servet Yalçın a, Gamze Turgay-İzzetoğlu b a b
Ege University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Bornova 35100, Izmir, Turkey Ege University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Bornova 35100, Izmir, Turkey
a r t i c l e i n f o
abstract
Article history: Received 6 May 2013 Received in revised form 25 July 2013 Accepted 28 July 2013
This study was carried out to investigate the effects of breeder age and hatching time on hatching performance, morphological changes in jejunum and post-hatch performances until slaughter age. A total of 544 eggs were obtained from two Ross broiler breeder flocks at 32 (young, Y) and 49 (old, O) weeks of age. Eggs from each breeder age were placed in 8 egg trays and incubated under standard incubation conditions. Between 480 and 504 h of incubation, eggs were checked individually to record hatched chicks. According to hatching time, chicks were marked and divided into two groups as early hatched (EH, from 480 to 485 h of incubation) and late hatched (LH, from 495 to 500 h of incubation). Sixteen chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were randomly selected at 3 h after hatching, weighed and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Weights of residual yolk sac, heart, spleen and bursa of fabricius, lengths of digestive tract, jejunum, and villus height and width were obtained. Hatching performance was determined. Chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were reared up to 35 d. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly, then feed conversion ratio was calculated. Hatching distribution of the chicks from Y breeders was concentrated in the EH stage of the incubation. Chick weight was significantly influenced by hatching time, where LH chicks registered heavier weight compared to chicks on EH group. Chicks from Y breeders had the shortest villus height in comparison to the other groups when hatched at EH stage of the incubation. From 7 to 21 d, O chicks hatched at LH had the heaviest body weight than the others. Feed intake of chicks from O breeders was higher than Y breeders from 1 to 21 d, while feed conversion ratio was not influenced along the experimental period. We concluded that breeder age should be taken into consideration in the management of hatching eggs during incubation. & 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Breeder age Hatching time Hatchability Villus development Broiler performance
1. Introduction Breeder age could be considered as one of the major factors affecting variability in egg characteristics, fertility,
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +20 2 37745574; fax: +20 2 35694049. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (M.I. El Sabry), [email protected] (S. Yalçın), [email protected] (G. Turgay-İzzetoğlu). 1 Permanent Address: 6 Gamma Street, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt.
hatchability and broiler performance (Brake et al., 1997; Elibol et al., 2002; Guibert et al., 2012; Lapao et al., 1999; Peebles et al., 2001; Wyatt et al., 1985). It is known that eggs from young breeders tend to have smaller eggs with higher proportion of albumen to yolk, lower albumen pH and higher shell thickness than eggs from old breeders (Peebles et al., 2000; Roque and Soares, 1994). The increase in albumen pH and height as breeder age may reduce resistance to gaseous diffusion (Meuer and Baumann, 1988), affect embryonic mortalities (Lapao et al., 1999), strength of the vitelline membrane and yolk height
1871-1413/$ - see front matter & 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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(Reijrink et al., 2008), and potential performance of d old chick (Tona et al., 2003). Breeder age also affects hatching duration. The chicks from young breeders pip and hatch later compared to chicks from peak and post peak breeders (Hamidu et al., 2007; Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010). Vieira et al. (2005) reported that maximum cumulative hatchability was seen between 497 and 503 h of incubation, however, 90% of the chicks hatched at 485 h of incubation or less. In commercial hatcheries, chicks are removed from hatcher after 504 h of incubation when maximum number of complete hatched. Thus the time spent in the hatchery, after they first emerged, will be longer for early hatched chicks (Decuypere et al., 2001). This will result in a delay to feed access, causing weight loss during holding time, delay yolk uptake and the development of intestine system and depress growth rate after access to feed (Careghi et al., 2005; Maiorka et al., 2003; Noy and Sklan, 1999; Uni et al., 2003). Breeder age could be also a contributing factor to posthatch performance of broilers. Smaller yolk proportions of eggs from a young flock may be associated with low final body weight of their offspring (Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010). Hulet et al. (2007) reported that broilers from old breeders had higher body weight until 35 d compared with broilers from the young breeders. However, at 44 d no differences in body weight were observed. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of breeder age and hatching time on chick development and histo-morphology of jejunum at hatch and post-hatching performance of broilers. Egg quality traits before incubation and hatching performance of chicks were also evaluated. 2. Materials and methods The care and use of animals were in accordance with laws and regulations of Turkey and approved by the Ethical Committee of the Ege University (license number 2012-026). This experiment was conducted using a total of 544 eggs obtained from a Ross broiler breeder flock aged 32 weeks (Young, Y) and 49 weeks (old, O). Eggs were stored for 3 d at 18 1C and 75% of relative humidity, numbered and weighed individually before incubation. Average egg weight was 56.13 70.18 and 69.4170.27 g for eggs from Y and O breeders, respectively. The range in egg weight was from 46.00 to 65.80 g for eggs from Y breeders while it was from 58.50 to 86.80 g for eggs from O breeders. Prior to incubation, 10 eggs/breeder age were sampled and weighed. Eggs were broken, the shell was weighed and shell thickness was measured using caliper micrometer with 0.01 mm precision. The yolk and albumen were then separated and heights were measured using a 3-legged micrometer sensitive to 0.01 mm. The pH of the egg yolk and albumen was measured using pH meter after diluting the sample with 9 v of deionized distilled water. Eggs from each breeder age were randomly divided into 8 replicate egg trays with 34 eggs each and were incubated at 37.6 1C and 56% of relative humidity. Twentyfour eggs from each breeder age were weighed individually at 18 d of incubation to calculate egg weight loss (%), and then all eggs were transferred to the hatcher at 36.5 1C
and 65% of relative humidity. Between 480 and 504 h of incubation, eggs were checked individually to record hatched chicks and classified as (1) Early hatched (EH): Chicks hatched between 480 and 485 h and (2) Late hatched (LH): chicks hatched between 495 and 500 h. The chicks hatched after 500 were also recorded. The percentages of EH and LH chicks were calculated by dividing the number of EH or LH to the number of total hatched chicks. The un-hatched eggs were broken to determine embryonic mortalities. Hatchability was calculated based on all eggs set. Sixteen chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were randomly selected after their feathers dried. Chicks' rectal temperature and body weight were recorded. Afterword, chicks were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Weights of residual yolk sac, heart, spleen and bursa were obtained. Residual yolk sac weight (%) were calculated by dividing absolute weight to chick weight, while organs weights (%) were calculated by dividing absolute weights to yolk free body weights. Lengths of digestive tract and jejunum were obtained and relative jejunum length was calculated as a percentage of digestive tract length. Samples obtained from jejunum midpoint were fixed in Bouin, stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Five randomly selected villi were measured in three serial histological sections under light microscope (4 magnificent). Measurements of villus height and width were performed using Sigma Scan Pro5 program, then villus surface area was calculated. All chicks were kept in the hatcher until pulling out at 504 h. Hatched chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were distributed into 3 of 12 floor pens. There were 22 chicks per pen for each replicate, except 14 chicks per pen for EH chicks from O breeders due to the lower number of chicks hatched at this period. The stocking density was 16 chicks/m2 for all subgroups. The chicks were reared according to Ross standard broiler management guide. Weekly body weight was measured individually until birds were slaughtered at 35 d. Feed intake was recorded on pen basis and feed conversion ratio was calculated. Data were analyzed using JMP 5.0 statistical program (Statistical Analysis System (SAS), 2003). Hatching performance was analyzed using Chi-Square. Breeder age was the main variable for egg characteristics. The model used for egg weight, histo-morphological parameters and chick performance measurements included breeder age, hatching time and their interaction as main factors. Duncan's multiple range test with P o0.05 was used to separate the means when significant differences among treatment means where observed. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Egg characteristics Eggs from O group was heavier (P o0.05) compared to eggs from Y group (Table 1). This was in agreement with previous reports (Alsobayel et al., 2013; Nangsuay et al., 2013; Tona et al., 2001; Vieira et al., 2005). Although it is known that shell thickness is negatively correlated with
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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Table 1 Effect of breeder age on some hatching egg characteristics and relative egg weight loss. Egg weight (g)
Shell thickness (mm)
Shell weight (%)
Yolk height (mm)
Albumin height (mm)
Yolk pH
Albumin pH
Relative egg weight loss (%)
Breeder age Young Old SEM
57a 67b 1.1
30.2 30.4 0.76
10.57b 9.34a 0.15
16.30a 17.85b 0.25
4.45 4.12 0.22
6.22 6.15 0.01
9.02 9.18 0.06
6.87 7.14 0.21
ANOVA
P values
Breeder age
o 0.001
0.928
o0.001
o 0.001
0.269
0.095
0.071
0.403
a,b Means with different superscripts, within a trait, differ significantly (Po 0.05). SEM: Standard error of mean.
3.2. Hatching and chick performance As expected, breeder age affected the hatchability, which was 84.19 and 79.04% for Y and O groups, respectively (P ¼0.033) data not shown. During the EH hours of incubation, more chicks were hatched from Y groups (51.07%) compared to those from O groups (20.30%) (P ¼0.005) while similar number of chicks hatched from Y and O groups during LH hours (Fig. 1). Moreover, the percent of chicks that hatched after 500 h of incubation followed the similar trend. These results indicated that hatching distribution of old breeders was concentrated in the later periods of incubation. Similar results were reported by Almeida et al. (2008). Vieira et al. (2005) reported a delay to initiate hatching for heavy eggs when compared to light eggs. In our study, early hatched eggs were lighter than late hatched eggs (61.98 vs. 63.07 g, respectively, P ¼0.021) with a similar trend within each breeder age. Embryonic mortality did not show noticeable differences between the Y and O groups. This finding was consistent with previous reports (Almeida et al., 2008; Hudson et al., 2004; Lapao et al., 1999). The increase in embryonic mortality due to the increases in the breeder
Young breeders
Old breeders
a
70 60 Percentage
age of broiler breeders (Bennett, 1992), the effect of breeder age on the egg shell thickness was not observed in this study. This result was in consistent with Kontecka et al. (2012) and Luquetti et al. (2004) who found no significant reduction in the eggshell thickness as hen aged, although this characteristic exhibited a negative trendcycle. However, the relative shell weight of the Y group was higher than that of O group (Po0.05). This may be due to the smaller eggs size of young breeders (Luquetti et al., 2004; Kontecka et al., 2012). In the present study yolk and albumin pH deemed to be around their optimum values (Reijrink et al., 2008) being similar for eggs from both breeder ages. Albumin height was not affected by breeder age; however, yolk height of the O group was significantly higher than that of Y group (Table 1). This result is in agreement with the finding of Kontecka et al. (2012) who reported that yolk index increased with advancing in age. Our results showed that relative egg weight loss up to 18 d of incubation was not influenced by breeder's age being consistent with the findings of Tona et al. (2001).
a a
50 40
b
30 20 10 Early
Late Hatching Time
Fig. 1. Percentage of hatched chicks during early and late hatching time a, b Means with different superscripts, within a hatching time, are significantly different (P o 0.05).
age (Tona et al., 2001) could be expected at the extremely old breeder ages (Almeida et al., 2008; Hudson et al., 2004; Lapao et al., 1999). As expected, O chicks had significantly heavier hatch weight and residual yolk sac weight as compared to Y (Table 2). This is in agreement with previous reports (Peebles et al., 2001; Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010; Weytjens et al., 1999; Yalçın et al., 2008). Peebles et al. (2001) stated that greater relative yolk sac weight coincided with a lower relative dry matter of embryos from old breeders and this might be further refer to slower embryonic growth in conjunction with a slower utilization of yolk and late hatch time. Chick weight was significantly influenced by hatching time, being heavier for LH than those EH. However, the yolk sac weights of EH and LH chicks were similar (Table 2). Breeder age did not affect relative organ weights (Table 2). van de Ven et al. (2013) reported that hatch time influenced heart and bursa weight. Our results showed that EH chicks had relative weights of heart and bursa similar to those of LH (Table 2). The spleen weight of EH chicks was heavier than that of LH chicks (P o0.05). Because spleen and bursa are the main lymphoid organs of the immune system, the heavier weights may show the early maturation of the organs of EH chicks (van de Ven et al., 2013). The embryo thermoregulatory system works as in poikilothermic animals and after hatching it gradually turns into a homeothermic organism. Our results showed that breeder age did not affect significantly the rectal
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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Table 2 Effect of breeder age and hatching time on chick weight and relative weights at hatch.
n
of residual yolk sac, some organs and rectal temperature (RT) of chicks
Chick weight (g)
Residual yolk sac (%)
Yolk free body weight (g)
Heart (%)
Spleen (%)
Bursa (%)
RT (1C)
Breeder age Young Old SEM
41.6a 51.4b 0.90
14.28a 17.42b 0.68
34.9a 43.0b 1.06
0.819 0.724 0.029
0.046 0.043 0.004
0.141 0.118 0.015
38.70 38.68 0.14
Hatching time Early Late SEM
45.0a 48.3b 0.86
15.07 16.83 0.68
38.3 40.6 0.90
0.805 0.727 0.030
0.052b 0.039a 0.004
0.144 0.118 0.015
38.19a 39.18b 0.14
ANOVA
P values
Breeder age (BA) Hatching time (HT) BA HT
o 0.001 0.007 0.085
o0.001 0.195 0.904
o0.001 0.167 0.356
0.051 0.113 0.565
0.319 0.018 0.120
0.204 0.183 0.419
0.929 o0.001 0.140
a,b
Means with different superscripts, within a trait and variables, differ significantly (P o 0.05). SEM: Standard error of mean. n Relative organs weights obtained as: (organs weights/yolk free body weight) 100.
Table 3 Effect of breeder age and hatching time on some morphological and histological characteristics of the digestive system. Digestive tract weight (%) Jejunum weight (%) Jejunum length (%) Villus height (mm) Villus width (mm) Villus area (mm2) Breeder age Young Old SEM
9.46 9.30 0.23
9.61 8.37 0.48
41 40 1.2
0.155a 0.169b 0.002
0.0287 0.0304 0.0007
0.0044a 0.0052b 0.0001
Hatching time Early Late SEM
9.20 9.56 0.23
9.32 8.66 0.48
42b 38a 1.2
0.159a 0.165b 0.002
0.0267a 0.0324b 0.0007
0.0042a 0.0054b 0.0001
ANOVA
P values 0.077 0.338 0.374
0.807 0.031 0.729
o0.001 0.0190 o0.001
0.086 o 0.001 o 0.001
o 0.001 o 0.001 0.164
Breeder age (BA) 0.626 Hatching time (HT) 0.286 BA HT 0.902 a,b
Means with different superscripts, within a trait and variable, differ significantly (P o0.05).SEM: Standard error of mean. Relative jejunum length obtained as: (jejunum length/digestive tract length) 100.
Villus height (mm)
Young breeder 0.18 0.17 0.16 0.15 0.14 0.13 0.12
Young breeder
Old breeder
a
a
a b
Early
Late
Hatching time
Villus width (mm)
n
0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 0.01 0.005 0
Old breeder a
bc
b
c
Early
Late
Hatching time
Fig. 2. Interaction between breeder age and hatching time for villus height (a) and width (b) a,bMeans with different superscripts are significantly different (Po 0.05).
temperature of chicks however; it was influenced by hatching time (Table 2). The lower rectal temperature obtained for EH chicks may indicate inability of those chicks to control body temperature compared to LH. Breeder age or hatching time did not influence either the digestive tract or jejunum weights (Table 3), while shorter relative jejunum length was observed for the LH (Table 3).
Mahmoud and Edens (2012) showed that chicks from breeders at 40 weeks had longer villus compared to chicks from 31 and 63 weeks breeders. Similarly, in turkey, jejunum villus was longer in poults from the older (48 weeks) than the younger (34 weeks) (Applegate et al., 1999). In the present study, a significant interaction between breeder age and hatching time for villus height
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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and width was observed (Table 3). This interaction indicated that villus of EH chicks from Y group had the shortest villus in comparison with the others (Fig. 2a). The results also indicated that villus width of LH chicks from O breeders was wider than those of any of the other groups (Fig. 2b). While chicks hatched from Y breeders were similar at both hatching times. Also, no significant difference was observed between chicks from Y and O breeders at EH time (Fig. 2b). These results led to a larger villus surface area for chicks from both O breeders for LH group (Table 3). Indeed, although the interaction between breeder age and hatching time was not significant, the means of villus area were 0.0040, 0.0048 mm2 for chicks from EH-Y and LH-Y and 0.0044 and 0.0059 mm2 for EH-O and LH-O chicks (data not shown in tables). The smaller villus area obtained for EH-Y, LH-Y, and EH-O could be a limiting factor to early growth of chicks (Uni et al., 1995). 3.3. Broiler performance
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on feed intake and feed conversion ratio of broilers (Table 4).
4. Conclusion The results of the present experiment showed that breeder age interacted with hatching time affecting villus height and width, which were associated with higher growth potential of LH-O chicks from hatch to 21 d post hatch. From 21 to 35 d, although interaction effect was disappeared, breeder age and hatching time effect was still evident. However, feed conversion ratio was not influenced by breeder age or hatching time in this study.
Conflict of interest statement There are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication.
EH-Y
EH-O
LH-Y
LH-O
1200
a b
1000 Body Weight (g)
There was a significant interaction between breeder age and hatching time for body weight of broilers from 7 to 21 d (Table 4, Fig. 3). At d7 of age, the LH chicks from O breeders had the highest body weight in comparison to other groups. Hatching time had no effect of 7 d body weight of chicks from Y breeders. At d 14 and 21, the LH chicks from O breeders were heavier (Po0.05) compared to others, which had similar weights. These results associated with the villus area of LH-O chicks obtained just after hatch. These results referred to the different response of the EH and LH chicks from Y and O breeders under the same growing conditions. Heavier body weight of broilers from O breeders was associated with higher feed intake than those from Y ones from 0 to 21 d (Table 4). Feed intake of broilers from all groups did not differ from each other from 22 to 35 d of age (Table 4). Feed conversion ratio was not influenced by breeder age or hatching time. These results agreed with Ulmer-Franco et al. (2010) showing that the breeder age had a significant effect on the feed consumption until 21 d but not feed conversion ratio. Hatching time had no effect
b
b
800 600
b
b
a b
400 200
c
b
c
a
0 7
14 Age (d)
21
Fig. 3. Interaction between breeder age and hatching time for body weight of broilers from 7 to 21 d a,bMeans with differ superscripts within an age are significantly different (Po 0.05) EH-Y: Early hatched chicks from young breeders. EH-O: Early hatched chicks from old breeders. LHY: Late hatched chicks from young breeders. LH-O: Late hatched chicks from old breeders.
Table 4 Effect of breeder age and hatching time on body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of broilers from 7 to 35 d. Body weight (g)
Feed intake (g)
FCR
7d
14 d
21 d
28 d
35 d
0–21 d
22–35 d
0-21 d
22–35 d
Breeder age Young Old SEM
166a 188b 2
475a 507b 6
977a 1012b 11
1620a 1684b 17
2354a 2449b 28
1144a 1208b 16
2280 2496 90
1.22 1.25 0.02
1.67 1.71 0.06
Hatching time Early Late SEM
174a 180b 2
483a 506b 6
967a 1021b 11
1602a 1703b 17
2332a 2462b 29
1166 1185 16
2456 2320 90
1.26 1.22 0.02
1.78 1.61 0.06
ANOVA
P Values
Breeder age (BA) Hatching time (HT) BA HT
o 0.001 0.016 o 0.001
o0.001 0.009 o0.001
0.017 o0.001 o0.001
0.013 o0.001 0.120
0.026 0.447 0.099
0.141 0.332 0.262
0.297 0.106 0.180
0.013 0.002 0.084
0.688 0.109 0.364
a,b Means with different superscripts, within a trait and variable, differ significantly (Po 0.05). SEM: Standard error of mean.
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Acknowledgment M. El Sabry received a fellowship award within the framework of The Research Fellowship Program for Foreign Citizens from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). References Almeida, J.G., Vieira, S.L., Reis, R.N., Berres, J., Barros, R., Ferreira, A.K., Furtado, F.V.F., 2008. Hatching distribution and embryo mortality of eggs laid by broiler breeders of different ages. Brazilian J. Poult. Sci. 10, 89–96. Alsobayel, A.A., Almarshade, M.A., Albadry, M.A., 2013. Effect of breed, age and storage period on egg weight, egg weight loss and chick weight of commercial broiler breeders raised in Saudi Arabia. J. Saudi Soc. Agric. Sci. 12, 53–57. Applegate, T.J., Dibner, J.J., Kitchell, M.L., Uni, Z., Lilburn, M.S., 1999. Effect of turkey (Meleagridis gallopavo) breeder hen age and egg size on poult development. 2. Intestinal villus growth, enterocyte migration and proliferation of the turkey. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. B 124, 381–389. Bennett, C.D., 1992. The influence of shell thickness on hatchability in commercial broile breeder flocks. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 1, 61–65. Brake, J., Walsh, T.J., Benton Jr., C.E., Petitte, J.N., Meijerhof, R., Peñalva, G., 1997. Egg handling and storage. Poult. Sci. 76, 144–151. Careghi, C., Tona, K., Onagbesan, O., Buyse, J., Decuypere, E., Bruggeman, V., 2005. The effects of the spread of hatch and interaction with delayed feed access after hatch on broiler performance until seven days of age. Poult. Sci 84, 1314–1320. Decuypere, E., Tona, K., Bruggeman, V., Bamelis, F., 2001. The day-old chick: a crucial hinge between breeders and broilers. World's Poult. Sci. J. 57, 127–138. Elibol, O., Peak, S.D., Brake, J., 2002. Effect of flock age, length of egg storage, and frequency of turning during storage on hatchability of broiler hatching eggs. Poult. Sci. 81, 945–950. Guibert, F., Richard-Yris, A.M., Lumineau, S., Kotrschal, K., Möstl, E., Houdelier, C., 2012. Yolk testosterone levels and offspring phenotype correlate with parental age in a precocial bird. Physiol. Behav. 105, 242–250. Hamidu, J.A., Fasenko, G.M., Feddes, J.J.R., O’Dea, E.E., Ouellette, C.A., Wineland, M.J., Christensen, V.L., 2007. The effect of broiler breeder genetic strain and parent flock age on eggshell conductance and embryonic metabolism. Poult. Sci. 86, 2420–2432. Hudson, B.P., Fairchild, B.D., Wilson, J.L., Dozier, W.A., Buhr, R.J., 2004. Breeder age and zinc source in broiler breeder hen diets on progeny characteristics at hatching. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 13, 55–64. Hulet, R., Gladys, G., Hill, D., Meijerhof, R., El-Shiekh, T., 2007. Influence of eggshell embryonic incubation temperature and broiler breeder flock age on posthatch growth performance and carcass characteristics. Poult. Sci. 86, 408–412. Kontecka, H., Nowaczewski, S., Sierszuła, M.M., Witkiewicz, K., 2012. Analysis of changes in egg quality of broiler breeders during the first reproduction period. Ann. Anim. Sci. 12, 609–620. Lapao, C., Gama, L.T., Soares, M.C., 1999. Effects of broiler breeder age and length of egg storage on albumen characteristics and hatchability. Poult. Sci. 78, 640–645. Luquetti, B.C., Gonzales, E., Bruno, L.D.G., Furlan, R.L., Macari, M., 2004. Egg traits and physiological neonatal chick parameters from broiler breeder at different ages. Brazilian J. Poult. Sci. 6, 13–17.
Mahmoud, K.Z., Edens, F.W., 2012. Breeder age affects small intestine development of broiler chicks with immediate or delayed access to feed. Br. Poult. Sci. 53, 32–41. Maiorka, A., Santin, E., Dahlke, F., Boleli, I.C., Furlan, R.L., Macari, M., 2003. Posthatching water and feed deprivation affect the gastrointestinal tract and intestinal mucosa development of broiler chicks. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 12, 483–492. Meuer, H.J., Baumann, R., 1988. Oxygen pressure in intra- and extraembryonic blood vessels of early chick embryo. Respir. Physiol. 71, 331–341. Nangsuay, A., Meijerhof, R., Ruangpanit, Y., Kemp, B., Van den Brand, H., 2013. Energy utilization and heat production of embryos from eggs originating from young and old broiler breeder flocks. Poult. Sci. 92, 474–482. Noy, Y., Sklan, D., 1999. Energy utilization in newly hatched chicks. Poult. Sci. 78, 1750–1756. Peebles, E.D., Doyle, S.M., Zumwalt, C.D., Gerard, P.D., Latour, M.A., Boyle, C.R., Smith, T.W., 2001. Breeder age influences embryogenesis in broiler hatching eggs. Poult. Sci. 80, 272–277. Peebles, E.D., Gardner, C.W., Brake, J., Benton, C.E., Bruzual, J.J., Gerard, P. D., 2000. Albumen height and yolk and embryo compositions in broiler hatching eggs during incubation. Poult. Sci. 79, 1373–1377. Reijrink, I.A.M., Meijerhof, R., Kemp, B., Van Den Brand, H., 2008. The chicken embryo and its micro environment during egg storage and early incubation. World's Poult. Sci. J 64, 581–598. Roque, L., Soares, M.C., 1994. Effects of eggshell quality and broiler breeder age on hatchability. Poult Sci. 73, 1838–1845. Statistical Analysis System (SAS), 2003. SAS Users' Guide, Version 5 SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USA. Tona, K., Bamelis, F., De Ketelaere, B., Bruggeman, V., Moraes, V.M.B., Buyse, J., Onagbesan, O., Decuypere, E., 2003. Effects of egg storage time on spread of hatch, chick quality, and chick juvenile growth. Poult. Sci. 82, 736–741. Tona, K., Bamelis, F., Coucke, W., Bruggeman, V., Decuypere, E., 2001. Relationship between broiler breeder's age and egg weight loss and embryonic mortality during incubation in large-scale conditions J. Appl. Poult. Res. 10, 221–227. Ulmer-Franco, A.M., Fasenko, G.M., O’Dea Christopher, E.E., 2010. Hatching egg characteristics, chick quality, and broiler performance at 2 breeder flock ages and from 3 egg weights. Poult. Sci. 89, 2735–2742. Uni, Z., Noy, Y., Sklan, D., 1995. Posthatch changes in morphology and function of the small intestines in heavy- and light-strain chicks. Poult. Sci. 74, 1622–1629. Uni, Z., Tako, E., Gal-Garber, O., Sklan, D., 2003. Morphological, molecular, and functional changes in the chicken small intestine of the late-term embryo. Poult Sci. 82, 1747–1754. van de Ven, L.J.F., van Wagenberg, A.V., Decuypere, E., Kemp, B., van den Brand, H., 2013. Perinatal broiler physiology between hatching and chick collection in 2 hatching systems. Poult. Sci. 92, 1050–1061. Vieira, S.L., Almeida, J.G., Lima, A.R., Conde, O.R.A., Olmos, A.R., 2005. Hatching distribution of eggs varying in weight and breeder age. Braz. J. Poult. Sci. 7, 73–78. Weytjens, S., Meijerhof, R., Buyse, J., Decuypere, E., 1999. Thermoregulation in chicks originating from breeder flocks of two different ages. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 8, 139–145. Wyatt, C.L., Weaver, W.D., Beane, W.L., 1985. Influence of egg size, egg shell quality, and posthatch holding time on broiler performance. Poult. Sci. 64, 2049–2055. Yalçın, S., Cabuk, M., Bruggeman, V., Babacanoglu, E., Buys, J., Decuypere, E., Siegel, P.B., 2008. Acclimation to heat during incubation. 1. Embryonic morphological traits, blood biochemistry, and hatching performance. Poult. Sci. 87, 1219–1228.
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance Mohamed Ibrahem El Sabry a,n,1, Servet Yalçın a, Gamze Turgay-İzzetoğlu b a b
Ege University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Bornova 35100, Izmir, Turkey Ege University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Bornova 35100, Izmir, Turkey
a r t i c l e i n f o
abstract
Article history: Received 6 May 2013 Received in revised form 25 July 2013 Accepted 28 July 2013
This study was carried out to investigate the effects of breeder age and hatching time on hatching performance, morphological changes in jejunum and post-hatch performances until slaughter age. A total of 544 eggs were obtained from two Ross broiler breeder flocks at 32 (young, Y) and 49 (old, O) weeks of age. Eggs from each breeder age were placed in 8 egg trays and incubated under standard incubation conditions. Between 480 and 504 h of incubation, eggs were checked individually to record hatched chicks. According to hatching time, chicks were marked and divided into two groups as early hatched (EH, from 480 to 485 h of incubation) and late hatched (LH, from 495 to 500 h of incubation). Sixteen chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were randomly selected at 3 h after hatching, weighed and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Weights of residual yolk sac, heart, spleen and bursa of fabricius, lengths of digestive tract, jejunum, and villus height and width were obtained. Hatching performance was determined. Chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were reared up to 35 d. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly, then feed conversion ratio was calculated. Hatching distribution of the chicks from Y breeders was concentrated in the EH stage of the incubation. Chick weight was significantly influenced by hatching time, where LH chicks registered heavier weight compared to chicks on EH group. Chicks from Y breeders had the shortest villus height in comparison to the other groups when hatched at EH stage of the incubation. From 7 to 21 d, O chicks hatched at LH had the heaviest body weight than the others. Feed intake of chicks from O breeders was higher than Y breeders from 1 to 21 d, while feed conversion ratio was not influenced along the experimental period. We concluded that breeder age should be taken into consideration in the management of hatching eggs during incubation. & 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Breeder age Hatching time Hatchability Villus development Broiler performance
1. Introduction Breeder age could be considered as one of the major factors affecting variability in egg characteristics, fertility,
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +20 2 37745574; fax: +20 2 35694049. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (M.I. El Sabry), [email protected] (S. Yalçın), [email protected] (G. Turgay-İzzetoğlu). 1 Permanent Address: 6 Gamma Street, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, 12613, Egypt.
hatchability and broiler performance (Brake et al., 1997; Elibol et al., 2002; Guibert et al., 2012; Lapao et al., 1999; Peebles et al., 2001; Wyatt et al., 1985). It is known that eggs from young breeders tend to have smaller eggs with higher proportion of albumen to yolk, lower albumen pH and higher shell thickness than eggs from old breeders (Peebles et al., 2000; Roque and Soares, 1994). The increase in albumen pH and height as breeder age may reduce resistance to gaseous diffusion (Meuer and Baumann, 1988), affect embryonic mortalities (Lapao et al., 1999), strength of the vitelline membrane and yolk height
1871-1413/$ - see front matter & 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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(Reijrink et al., 2008), and potential performance of d old chick (Tona et al., 2003). Breeder age also affects hatching duration. The chicks from young breeders pip and hatch later compared to chicks from peak and post peak breeders (Hamidu et al., 2007; Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010). Vieira et al. (2005) reported that maximum cumulative hatchability was seen between 497 and 503 h of incubation, however, 90% of the chicks hatched at 485 h of incubation or less. In commercial hatcheries, chicks are removed from hatcher after 504 h of incubation when maximum number of complete hatched. Thus the time spent in the hatchery, after they first emerged, will be longer for early hatched chicks (Decuypere et al., 2001). This will result in a delay to feed access, causing weight loss during holding time, delay yolk uptake and the development of intestine system and depress growth rate after access to feed (Careghi et al., 2005; Maiorka et al., 2003; Noy and Sklan, 1999; Uni et al., 2003). Breeder age could be also a contributing factor to posthatch performance of broilers. Smaller yolk proportions of eggs from a young flock may be associated with low final body weight of their offspring (Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010). Hulet et al. (2007) reported that broilers from old breeders had higher body weight until 35 d compared with broilers from the young breeders. However, at 44 d no differences in body weight were observed. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of breeder age and hatching time on chick development and histo-morphology of jejunum at hatch and post-hatching performance of broilers. Egg quality traits before incubation and hatching performance of chicks were also evaluated. 2. Materials and methods The care and use of animals were in accordance with laws and regulations of Turkey and approved by the Ethical Committee of the Ege University (license number 2012-026). This experiment was conducted using a total of 544 eggs obtained from a Ross broiler breeder flock aged 32 weeks (Young, Y) and 49 weeks (old, O). Eggs were stored for 3 d at 18 1C and 75% of relative humidity, numbered and weighed individually before incubation. Average egg weight was 56.13 70.18 and 69.4170.27 g for eggs from Y and O breeders, respectively. The range in egg weight was from 46.00 to 65.80 g for eggs from Y breeders while it was from 58.50 to 86.80 g for eggs from O breeders. Prior to incubation, 10 eggs/breeder age were sampled and weighed. Eggs were broken, the shell was weighed and shell thickness was measured using caliper micrometer with 0.01 mm precision. The yolk and albumen were then separated and heights were measured using a 3-legged micrometer sensitive to 0.01 mm. The pH of the egg yolk and albumen was measured using pH meter after diluting the sample with 9 v of deionized distilled water. Eggs from each breeder age were randomly divided into 8 replicate egg trays with 34 eggs each and were incubated at 37.6 1C and 56% of relative humidity. Twentyfour eggs from each breeder age were weighed individually at 18 d of incubation to calculate egg weight loss (%), and then all eggs were transferred to the hatcher at 36.5 1C
and 65% of relative humidity. Between 480 and 504 h of incubation, eggs were checked individually to record hatched chicks and classified as (1) Early hatched (EH): Chicks hatched between 480 and 485 h and (2) Late hatched (LH): chicks hatched between 495 and 500 h. The chicks hatched after 500 were also recorded. The percentages of EH and LH chicks were calculated by dividing the number of EH or LH to the number of total hatched chicks. The un-hatched eggs were broken to determine embryonic mortalities. Hatchability was calculated based on all eggs set. Sixteen chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were randomly selected after their feathers dried. Chicks' rectal temperature and body weight were recorded. Afterword, chicks were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Weights of residual yolk sac, heart, spleen and bursa were obtained. Residual yolk sac weight (%) were calculated by dividing absolute weight to chick weight, while organs weights (%) were calculated by dividing absolute weights to yolk free body weights. Lengths of digestive tract and jejunum were obtained and relative jejunum length was calculated as a percentage of digestive tract length. Samples obtained from jejunum midpoint were fixed in Bouin, stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Five randomly selected villi were measured in three serial histological sections under light microscope (4 magnificent). Measurements of villus height and width were performed using Sigma Scan Pro5 program, then villus surface area was calculated. All chicks were kept in the hatcher until pulling out at 504 h. Hatched chicks from each breeder age and hatching time were distributed into 3 of 12 floor pens. There were 22 chicks per pen for each replicate, except 14 chicks per pen for EH chicks from O breeders due to the lower number of chicks hatched at this period. The stocking density was 16 chicks/m2 for all subgroups. The chicks were reared according to Ross standard broiler management guide. Weekly body weight was measured individually until birds were slaughtered at 35 d. Feed intake was recorded on pen basis and feed conversion ratio was calculated. Data were analyzed using JMP 5.0 statistical program (Statistical Analysis System (SAS), 2003). Hatching performance was analyzed using Chi-Square. Breeder age was the main variable for egg characteristics. The model used for egg weight, histo-morphological parameters and chick performance measurements included breeder age, hatching time and their interaction as main factors. Duncan's multiple range test with P o0.05 was used to separate the means when significant differences among treatment means where observed. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Egg characteristics Eggs from O group was heavier (P o0.05) compared to eggs from Y group (Table 1). This was in agreement with previous reports (Alsobayel et al., 2013; Nangsuay et al., 2013; Tona et al., 2001; Vieira et al., 2005). Although it is known that shell thickness is negatively correlated with
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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Table 1 Effect of breeder age on some hatching egg characteristics and relative egg weight loss. Egg weight (g)
Shell thickness (mm)
Shell weight (%)
Yolk height (mm)
Albumin height (mm)
Yolk pH
Albumin pH
Relative egg weight loss (%)
Breeder age Young Old SEM
57a 67b 1.1
30.2 30.4 0.76
10.57b 9.34a 0.15
16.30a 17.85b 0.25
4.45 4.12 0.22
6.22 6.15 0.01
9.02 9.18 0.06
6.87 7.14 0.21
ANOVA
P values
Breeder age
o 0.001
0.928
o0.001
o 0.001
0.269
0.095
0.071
0.403
a,b Means with different superscripts, within a trait, differ significantly (Po 0.05). SEM: Standard error of mean.
3.2. Hatching and chick performance As expected, breeder age affected the hatchability, which was 84.19 and 79.04% for Y and O groups, respectively (P ¼0.033) data not shown. During the EH hours of incubation, more chicks were hatched from Y groups (51.07%) compared to those from O groups (20.30%) (P ¼0.005) while similar number of chicks hatched from Y and O groups during LH hours (Fig. 1). Moreover, the percent of chicks that hatched after 500 h of incubation followed the similar trend. These results indicated that hatching distribution of old breeders was concentrated in the later periods of incubation. Similar results were reported by Almeida et al. (2008). Vieira et al. (2005) reported a delay to initiate hatching for heavy eggs when compared to light eggs. In our study, early hatched eggs were lighter than late hatched eggs (61.98 vs. 63.07 g, respectively, P ¼0.021) with a similar trend within each breeder age. Embryonic mortality did not show noticeable differences between the Y and O groups. This finding was consistent with previous reports (Almeida et al., 2008; Hudson et al., 2004; Lapao et al., 1999). The increase in embryonic mortality due to the increases in the breeder
Young breeders
Old breeders
a
70 60 Percentage
age of broiler breeders (Bennett, 1992), the effect of breeder age on the egg shell thickness was not observed in this study. This result was in consistent with Kontecka et al. (2012) and Luquetti et al. (2004) who found no significant reduction in the eggshell thickness as hen aged, although this characteristic exhibited a negative trendcycle. However, the relative shell weight of the Y group was higher than that of O group (Po0.05). This may be due to the smaller eggs size of young breeders (Luquetti et al., 2004; Kontecka et al., 2012). In the present study yolk and albumin pH deemed to be around their optimum values (Reijrink et al., 2008) being similar for eggs from both breeder ages. Albumin height was not affected by breeder age; however, yolk height of the O group was significantly higher than that of Y group (Table 1). This result is in agreement with the finding of Kontecka et al. (2012) who reported that yolk index increased with advancing in age. Our results showed that relative egg weight loss up to 18 d of incubation was not influenced by breeder's age being consistent with the findings of Tona et al. (2001).
a a
50 40
b
30 20 10 Early
Late Hatching Time
Fig. 1. Percentage of hatched chicks during early and late hatching time a, b Means with different superscripts, within a hatching time, are significantly different (P o 0.05).
age (Tona et al., 2001) could be expected at the extremely old breeder ages (Almeida et al., 2008; Hudson et al., 2004; Lapao et al., 1999). As expected, O chicks had significantly heavier hatch weight and residual yolk sac weight as compared to Y (Table 2). This is in agreement with previous reports (Peebles et al., 2001; Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010; Weytjens et al., 1999; Yalçın et al., 2008). Peebles et al. (2001) stated that greater relative yolk sac weight coincided with a lower relative dry matter of embryos from old breeders and this might be further refer to slower embryonic growth in conjunction with a slower utilization of yolk and late hatch time. Chick weight was significantly influenced by hatching time, being heavier for LH than those EH. However, the yolk sac weights of EH and LH chicks were similar (Table 2). Breeder age did not affect relative organ weights (Table 2). van de Ven et al. (2013) reported that hatch time influenced heart and bursa weight. Our results showed that EH chicks had relative weights of heart and bursa similar to those of LH (Table 2). The spleen weight of EH chicks was heavier than that of LH chicks (P o0.05). Because spleen and bursa are the main lymphoid organs of the immune system, the heavier weights may show the early maturation of the organs of EH chicks (van de Ven et al., 2013). The embryo thermoregulatory system works as in poikilothermic animals and after hatching it gradually turns into a homeothermic organism. Our results showed that breeder age did not affect significantly the rectal
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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Table 2 Effect of breeder age and hatching time on chick weight and relative weights at hatch.
n
of residual yolk sac, some organs and rectal temperature (RT) of chicks
Chick weight (g)
Residual yolk sac (%)
Yolk free body weight (g)
Heart (%)
Spleen (%)
Bursa (%)
RT (1C)
Breeder age Young Old SEM
41.6a 51.4b 0.90
14.28a 17.42b 0.68
34.9a 43.0b 1.06
0.819 0.724 0.029
0.046 0.043 0.004
0.141 0.118 0.015
38.70 38.68 0.14
Hatching time Early Late SEM
45.0a 48.3b 0.86
15.07 16.83 0.68
38.3 40.6 0.90
0.805 0.727 0.030
0.052b 0.039a 0.004
0.144 0.118 0.015
38.19a 39.18b 0.14
ANOVA
P values
Breeder age (BA) Hatching time (HT) BA HT
o 0.001 0.007 0.085
o0.001 0.195 0.904
o0.001 0.167 0.356
0.051 0.113 0.565
0.319 0.018 0.120
0.204 0.183 0.419
0.929 o0.001 0.140
a,b
Means with different superscripts, within a trait and variables, differ significantly (P o 0.05). SEM: Standard error of mean. n Relative organs weights obtained as: (organs weights/yolk free body weight) 100.
Table 3 Effect of breeder age and hatching time on some morphological and histological characteristics of the digestive system. Digestive tract weight (%) Jejunum weight (%) Jejunum length (%) Villus height (mm) Villus width (mm) Villus area (mm2) Breeder age Young Old SEM
9.46 9.30 0.23
9.61 8.37 0.48
41 40 1.2
0.155a 0.169b 0.002
0.0287 0.0304 0.0007
0.0044a 0.0052b 0.0001
Hatching time Early Late SEM
9.20 9.56 0.23
9.32 8.66 0.48
42b 38a 1.2
0.159a 0.165b 0.002
0.0267a 0.0324b 0.0007
0.0042a 0.0054b 0.0001
ANOVA
P values 0.077 0.338 0.374
0.807 0.031 0.729
o0.001 0.0190 o0.001
0.086 o 0.001 o 0.001
o 0.001 o 0.001 0.164
Breeder age (BA) 0.626 Hatching time (HT) 0.286 BA HT 0.902 a,b
Means with different superscripts, within a trait and variable, differ significantly (P o0.05).SEM: Standard error of mean. Relative jejunum length obtained as: (jejunum length/digestive tract length) 100.
Villus height (mm)
Young breeder 0.18 0.17 0.16 0.15 0.14 0.13 0.12
Young breeder
Old breeder
a
a
a b
Early
Late
Hatching time
Villus width (mm)
n
0.04 0.035 0.03 0.025 0.02 0.015 0.01 0.005 0
Old breeder a
bc
b
c
Early
Late
Hatching time
Fig. 2. Interaction between breeder age and hatching time for villus height (a) and width (b) a,bMeans with different superscripts are significantly different (Po 0.05).
temperature of chicks however; it was influenced by hatching time (Table 2). The lower rectal temperature obtained for EH chicks may indicate inability of those chicks to control body temperature compared to LH. Breeder age or hatching time did not influence either the digestive tract or jejunum weights (Table 3), while shorter relative jejunum length was observed for the LH (Table 3).
Mahmoud and Edens (2012) showed that chicks from breeders at 40 weeks had longer villus compared to chicks from 31 and 63 weeks breeders. Similarly, in turkey, jejunum villus was longer in poults from the older (48 weeks) than the younger (34 weeks) (Applegate et al., 1999). In the present study, a significant interaction between breeder age and hatching time for villus height
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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and width was observed (Table 3). This interaction indicated that villus of EH chicks from Y group had the shortest villus in comparison with the others (Fig. 2a). The results also indicated that villus width of LH chicks from O breeders was wider than those of any of the other groups (Fig. 2b). While chicks hatched from Y breeders were similar at both hatching times. Also, no significant difference was observed between chicks from Y and O breeders at EH time (Fig. 2b). These results led to a larger villus surface area for chicks from both O breeders for LH group (Table 3). Indeed, although the interaction between breeder age and hatching time was not significant, the means of villus area were 0.0040, 0.0048 mm2 for chicks from EH-Y and LH-Y and 0.0044 and 0.0059 mm2 for EH-O and LH-O chicks (data not shown in tables). The smaller villus area obtained for EH-Y, LH-Y, and EH-O could be a limiting factor to early growth of chicks (Uni et al., 1995). 3.3. Broiler performance
5
on feed intake and feed conversion ratio of broilers (Table 4).
4. Conclusion The results of the present experiment showed that breeder age interacted with hatching time affecting villus height and width, which were associated with higher growth potential of LH-O chicks from hatch to 21 d post hatch. From 21 to 35 d, although interaction effect was disappeared, breeder age and hatching time effect was still evident. However, feed conversion ratio was not influenced by breeder age or hatching time in this study.
Conflict of interest statement There are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication.
EH-Y
EH-O
LH-Y
LH-O
1200
a b
1000 Body Weight (g)
There was a significant interaction between breeder age and hatching time for body weight of broilers from 7 to 21 d (Table 4, Fig. 3). At d7 of age, the LH chicks from O breeders had the highest body weight in comparison to other groups. Hatching time had no effect of 7 d body weight of chicks from Y breeders. At d 14 and 21, the LH chicks from O breeders were heavier (Po0.05) compared to others, which had similar weights. These results associated with the villus area of LH-O chicks obtained just after hatch. These results referred to the different response of the EH and LH chicks from Y and O breeders under the same growing conditions. Heavier body weight of broilers from O breeders was associated with higher feed intake than those from Y ones from 0 to 21 d (Table 4). Feed intake of broilers from all groups did not differ from each other from 22 to 35 d of age (Table 4). Feed conversion ratio was not influenced by breeder age or hatching time. These results agreed with Ulmer-Franco et al. (2010) showing that the breeder age had a significant effect on the feed consumption until 21 d but not feed conversion ratio. Hatching time had no effect
b
b
800 600
b
b
a b
400 200
c
b
c
a
0 7
14 Age (d)
21
Fig. 3. Interaction between breeder age and hatching time for body weight of broilers from 7 to 21 d a,bMeans with differ superscripts within an age are significantly different (Po 0.05) EH-Y: Early hatched chicks from young breeders. EH-O: Early hatched chicks from old breeders. LHY: Late hatched chicks from young breeders. LH-O: Late hatched chicks from old breeders.
Table 4 Effect of breeder age and hatching time on body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of broilers from 7 to 35 d. Body weight (g)
Feed intake (g)
FCR
7d
14 d
21 d
28 d
35 d
0–21 d
22–35 d
0-21 d
22–35 d
Breeder age Young Old SEM
166a 188b 2
475a 507b 6
977a 1012b 11
1620a 1684b 17
2354a 2449b 28
1144a 1208b 16
2280 2496 90
1.22 1.25 0.02
1.67 1.71 0.06
Hatching time Early Late SEM
174a 180b 2
483a 506b 6
967a 1021b 11
1602a 1703b 17
2332a 2462b 29
1166 1185 16
2456 2320 90
1.26 1.22 0.02
1.78 1.61 0.06
ANOVA
P Values
Breeder age (BA) Hatching time (HT) BA HT
o 0.001 0.016 o 0.001
o0.001 0.009 o0.001
0.017 o0.001 o0.001
0.013 o0.001 0.120
0.026 0.447 0.099
0.141 0.332 0.262
0.297 0.106 0.180
0.013 0.002 0.084
0.688 0.109 0.364
a,b Means with different superscripts, within a trait and variable, differ significantly (Po 0.05). SEM: Standard error of mean.
Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i
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Please cite this article as: El Sabry, M.I., et al., Interaction between breeder age and hatching time affects intestine development and broiler performance. Livestock Science (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.07.012i