J APPL POULT RES 2009. 18:8-14. doi:10.3382/japr.2008-00029
© 2009 Poultry Science Association
Influences of breeder age and fasting after hatching on the performance of broilers
F. S. C. Vargas*,
,
T. R. Baratto,
F. R. Magalhães,
A. Maiorka
and
E. Santin*,1
* Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil 80035-050; DaGranja Agroindustrial Ltda, Lapa, Paraná, Brazil 83750-970; and Department of Animal Science, UFPR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil 80035-050
1 Corresponding author: santin{at}ufpr.br
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SUMMARY
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In this trial, we assessed the effects of 2 different ages of breeders and of 2 periods of fasting posthatching on the performance of broilers up to 42 d of age. Male broilers from breeders of different ages (30 and 60 wk) were subjected to an experimental design with 4 treatments: 1) T1, chicks not subjected to fasting, from 30-wk-old breeders; 2) T2, chicks not subjected to fasting, from 60-wk-old breeders; 3) T3, chicks subjected to a 12-h fast, from 30-wk-old breeders; and 4) T4, chicks subjected to a 12-h fast, from 60-wk-old breeders. At the end of the trial, feed intake was greater for the chicks from older breeders. Fasting had a negative influence on feed intake in the period from 0 to 10 d of age. The birds from older breeders had a greater BW gain from 21 to 35 d of age when they were not subjected to a fasting period, but when birds were subjected to a fasting period, no differences between broiler breeder ages were observed on BW gain. Fasting did not exert a significant effect on the BW of the birds. Feed conversion was not influenced by the age of the breeders or by fasting.
Key Words: breeder age • broiler • fasting • performance
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DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM
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The age of the breeder exerts a direct influence over the hatching rate, weight of the eggs and hatchlings, and final performance of broilers [1–6]. Hatchlings from older breeders have a greater BW and a greater BW relative to the yolk when compared with those from younger breeders [6, 7]. Maiorka et al. [7] also observed that embryos from older breeders had more pancreatic lipase and trypsin activity at 20 d of incubation when compared with embryos of younger breeders. However, these differences disappeared by the end of the first week of age. According to those authors, this greater enzymatic activity, although present only in the first days of life, could favor better performance of the birds in terms of BW gain (BWG) and FE. Furthermore, a positive relationship has been described between age of the breeder and development of the gastrointestinal tract (villus height) in the absence of feed in the first 24 h after hatching [8]. In their study, the authors did not observe any influence of age of the breeder on development of the gastrointestinal tract in the presence of exogenous food; however, when chicks were submitted to a 24-h fast, the chicks from older breeders (60 wk old) had greater villus heights in the jejunum.
The time of fasting between hatching and the first access of birds to feed can also negatively influence some physiological parameters of the chick (glycogen reserves in the liver, body temperature, and packed cell volume), as well as the performance of broilers [3, 5]. Sklan et al. [9] concluded in their study that there was a linear relationship between a delay in the hatcher and the loss of BW of the chick. Wyatt et al. [1] found a significant reduction in weight at 49 d of age in birds kept for a longer period of time in the hatchery when compared with others housed immediately after hatching. However, no consensus has been reached on what could influence the length of time necessary for full absorption of the yolk sac in the posthatching period and of its true nutritional relevance for the chick [3]. The nutritional value of the contents of the yolk is insignificant, considering the requirements of the chick from its third day of life, and it is insufficient to compensate for the lack of exogenous feed in the early stages of the life of the bird [10–12].
Furthermore, factors connected to the early management of broilers and to the environment may influence bird performance. Mozdziak et al. [13] suggested in their study that a delay in the access to feed (a 72-h fasting period) induced a greater percentage of nuclear apoptosis in muscle cells when compared with samples from birds that had access to feed immediately after hatching. This greater degree of cell damage was translated into smaller sized muscle fibers and a subsequently lower BW.
An understanding of how the performance of broilers at slaughter can be affected by the age of the breeder, the time of fasting after hatching, or both could be an important tool by which to forecast and improve performance. This ability to forecast these results could be used in the remuneration systems of integrators, as well as in the creation of more adequate nutritional and management profiles for each flock or group of flocks originating from breeders of a specific age. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the age of the breeder and of fasting after hatching on the final performance of broilers.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
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We used 1,000 one-day-old male broiler chicks from a commercial line [14]; 500 of the birds originated from 30-wk-old breeders, and the other 500 originated from 60-wk-old breeders. The incubation of the eggs was conducted according to the normal standards outlined in the Ross 308 management manual [15]. During the process of transferring the eggs from the incubator to the hatcher at 18 d of incubation, all birds were vaccinated in ovo with a vaccine machine [16]. The vaccination protocol included vaccines against Marek’s and Gumboro diseases and avian pox virus. After 502 h of incubation, normal, healthy chicks were selected, sexed, and transported to the farm, where they were weighed and housed. The time span between hatching, posthatching, processing (sexing, selection, and transportation), and housing of the chicks on the experimental farm was approximately 5 h. The chicks from the younger breeders had an average BW of 40 ± 0.5 g, and those from the older breeders had an average BW of 48 ± 0.8 g.
The birds were housed in 20 experimental floor pens of 4 m2 (2 x 2 m) with new pine shavings litter; the pens were installed on a conventional commercial farm in a curtain-sided house with no ventilation system. Each pen had 50 chicks at a density of 12.5 birds/m2, with 1 bell drinker/pen and 1 pan feeder/pen. Management during the trial was based on the standard practices for a commercial flock of broilers, according to the guidelines of the Ross management manual [15]. Temperature was taken daily at floor level (0 to 7 d, 28 to 30°C; 8 to 14 d, 24 to 27°C; 15 to 21 d, 22 to 25°C; 22 to 28 d, 18 to 22°C; 29 to 35 d, 18 to 21°C; 36 to 42 d, 17.5 to 21°C). The birds were fed a commercial feed containing the nutritional levels for each age: prestarter from 0 to 10 d, starter from 11 to 21 d, grower from 22 to 35 d, and finisher from 36 to 42 d of age (Table 1
). All mortalities were recorded.
The birds and the feed were weighed at 0, 7, 10, 21, 35, and 42 d of age to assess the mean BW, feed intake (FI), BWG, and FCR. The birds were distributed randomly in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (2 breeder ages and 2 periods of fasting after hatching) in 4 treatments, with 5 repetitions (50 birds) each: 1) T1, chicks not subjected to fasting after hatching, from 30-wk-old breeders; 2) T2, chicks not subjected to fasting after hatching, from 60-wk-old breeders; 3) T3, chicks subjected to a 12-h fast after hatching, from 30-wk-old breeders; and 4) T4, chicks subjected to a 12-h fast after hatching, from 60-wk-old breeders.
Five hours after the hatchers were opened, the birds in treatments T1 and T2 were distributed to their pens and were given immediate access to water and feed, which continued for the rest of the trial (ad libitum). The birds in treatments T3 and T4 were housed in the pens and had access only to water; the feed was offered 12 h later, after which it was available (ad libitum) throughout the remainder of the trial. At 14 d of age, all birds received a booster vaccination against Gumboro disease in their drinking water as part of the normal vaccination protocol used on the farm where the trial was conducted.
Data were analyzed by ANOVA. When differences were significant, means were separated by using Tukey’s test (P > 0.05) [17].
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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The data for FI, mean BW, BWG, and FCR are presented in Tables 2 to 6. No statistical difference was observed for mortalities (data not presented). Table 2 shows data on FI divided according to the kind of feed (formulation) used for each age. When analyzed for the variable "age of the breeder," FI was greater in chicks from 60-wk-old breeders in the periods from 0 to 10 d (P = 0.0260) and 11 to 21 d (P = 0.004). The total FI (from 0 to 42 d) was also significantly greater in this group (P = 0.009).
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Table 6. Body weight gain (g) between 21 and 35 d of age for each of the treatments, considering the age of the breeder and posthatch fasting
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The 12-h fasting period after the birds were housed had a negative effect on FI only in the first phase, from 0 to 10 d (P = 0.0260). Throughout the rest of the trial, no significant differences were observed between the groups submitted to 2 different periods of fasting after hatching. This absence of effects caused by the fasting time may be related to the small interval used in this trial. (It is very common for the time of fasting after hatching to exceed the 12 h used in this study.) This suggests that it may be necessary to use longer periods of fasting to observe statistical differences in these effects. No significant interaction was noted between the age of the breeder and the periods of fasting after hatching.
Table 3
shows data on BW obtained on d 0, 10, 21, 35, and 42. A significant interaction (P = 0.0207) between fasting and breeder age for BW was found at 35 d (Table 4). Other studies [1, 5, 6] have found that the age of the breeder has no effect on the final BW of broilers when the initial BW is similar. However, in this study, we observed a difference in the initial BW of the chicks from 30- or 60-wk-old breeders. An earlier study [2] also reported significant differences in the BW of chicks from breeders of different ages until the birds were market age. Actually, older breeders do produce heavier eggs, with relatively more yolk [18], which can be translated into a greater amount of nutritional reserve material. At 35 d of age, fasting did not influence BW between the groups of broilers from 30- or 60-wk-old breeders. However, when feed was available, chicks from the older breeders had greater BW at 35 d, supporting the idea that initial BW can be a determining factor in the final BW of the birds. In spite of this, the results of this study suggest that this advantage in initial BW was irrelevant when access to feed was delayed because of the transportation time from the hatchery to the farm.
There was a difference in the BWG of chicks between the 2 ages of breeders in the periods from 0 to 10 d and 21 to 35 d (P = 0.0117 and 0.0483, respectively; Table 5). In the other periods, no difference was attributable to the age of the breeders. The 12 h of fasting after hatching did not significantly influence the BWG in any of the phases studied.
As observed for BW, the BWG of the broilers from 21 to 35 d was not influenced by breeder age when the chicks were subjected to a period of fasting after hatching (Table 6). However, when the chicks from older breeders were not subjected to fasting after hatching, they experienced a greater BWG in that period. Sklan et al. [9] stated that the market weight of broilers is determined mostly by the BW of the chick at hatch. They concluded that this BW is connected, at least partially, to the potential capacity of the muscle to develop, and that at approximately d 15 of the embryonic period, the heavier embryos exhibit a greater myoblast activity when compared with smaller embryos originating from the same flock of breeders. Studies cited by those authors suggested that chicks with the same BW at hatch, but from breeders of different ages, had similar market weights. Further studies may be necessary for a better understanding of this issue. Once again, the results of this study showed that the advantage in BWG observed in chicks that were larger at hatch (from older breeders) was not found when they were subjected to fasting.
Table 7 shows data on FCR grouped according to the 2 variables in the experiment. No significant difference was observed between treatments for this parameter (P > 0.050). This result suggested that the compensatory BWG of chicks from 30-wk-old breeders in the phases mentioned previously did not occur with the physiological cost of a poorer FE. Wyatt et al. [1], working with breeders of the same age, found a better FCR in birds originating from smaller eggs. Conversely, Menocal et al. [19] observed a better FCR in chicks from older breeders. It seems that the ability to use nutrients in the feed has no relationship with the ability to gain BW, or with the age of the breeders. Nevertheless, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the diets used in each of the studies mentioned (different times, regions, nutritional matrixes, and raw materials).
Table 8 shows the relationship that was established (A:B) between the differences in weight observed in the broilers at the beginning (A) and at the end of the trial (B), according to the age of the breeder. The differences in BW when the chicks from 30- and 60-wk-old breeders were housed was 8 g (P < 0.0001). Each gram of difference in BW at housing had the equivalent of a 10-g difference in BW at the end of the trial. This value is similar to those reported by other authors [4, 20, 21], suggesting that this relationship may be useful for the development of tools that could be used in poultry production systems to predict BW.
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CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS
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- The FI was greater for the group of birds that originated from older breeders when the total 0- to 42-d period was considered.
- The fasting period did not affect the BW and BWG of broilers between 21 and 35 d of age; however, in the absence of fasting, chicks from 60-wk-old breeders experienced a greater BW and BWG between 21 and 35 d of age than did chicks from 30-wk-old breeders.
- The FCR was not affected by the age of the breeders or by fasting after hatching.
- Each gram of BW difference at hatch translated into a 10-g difference in BW at 42 d of age in both ages of breeders. This observation corroborates findings from other studies and may be useful as an extra tool for predicting BW in planning and controlling systems in the poultry industry.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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DaGranja Industrial Ltda. (Lapa, Paraná, Brazil) for all financial support.
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REFERENCES AND NOTES
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SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM
