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Chen F, Zhu B, Guo B, Dai Z, Liu J, Ying S, Huang Y, Shi Z. Improving duckling hatchability and quality by optimization of egg turning angle during incubation. Poult Sci 2024; 103:103937. [PMID: 39106698 PMCID: PMC11347848 DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Revised: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Egg turning in incubation is crucial to the development of embryos and hatching performance. We aimed to develop a high performance duck egg incubation technique by enlarging and changing egg turning angles. Increasing turning angle from 45 to 75° did not affect the embryo early mortality during the first 15 d of incubation, which ranged from 3.5 to 4.0%, but accelerated chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) development by 17 h, and significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the late mortality from 9.4 ± 0.98% to 5.31 ± 0.63%. As the result, fertile egg hatchability increased from 91.03 ± 0.97% to 94.64 ± 0.61% (P < 0.05), so was healthy duckling rate from 87.24 ± 1.17% to 92.08 ± 0.55% (P < 0.05), and duckling live weight from 60.74 ± 0.63 g to 63.15 ± 0.35 g (P < 0.05). Changing turning angle from 75°to 60°during incubation d 15 to 25 further reduced late embryo mortality to 3.88 ± 0.47 and increased hatchability to 96.58 ± 0.68%. This changing angle turning hatched ducklings exhibited the highest growth performance during rearing than those hatched by 45 and 75° egg turning. The enhanced growth rate was paralleled by upregulations of somatotropic axis genes mRNA expression levels of the hypothalamus GHRH, liver GHR and IGF-1 during embryo incubation and duckling rearing. In conclusion, a changing angle egg turning incubation technique, 75°in the first 15 d and 60°thereafter, can enhance CAM development, upregulate somatotropic axis genes expressions, and can maximally improve embryo livability, duckling hatchability and growth performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Chen
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
| | - Biwen Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China; College of Animal Science, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510000, China
| | - Binbin Guo
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
| | - Zichun Dai
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
| | - Jie Liu
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
| | - Shijia Ying
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
| | - Yunmao Huang
- College of Animal Science, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510000, China
| | - Zhendan Shi
- Key Laboratory of Protected Agriculture Engineering in the Middle and Lower Researches of Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture; Laboratory of Animal Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China.
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YALCIN S, Özkan S, Shah T. Incubation Temperature and Lighting: Effect on Embryonic Development, Post-Hatch Growth, and Adaptive Response. Front Physiol 2022; 13:899977. [PMID: 35634161 PMCID: PMC9136109 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.899977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
During incubation, the content of the egg is converted into a chick. This process is controlled by incubation conditions, which must meet the requirements of the chick embryo to obtain the best chick quality and maximum hatchability. Incubation temperature and light are the two main factors influencing embryo development and post-hatch performance. Because chicken embryos are poikilothermic, embryo metabolic development relies on the incubation temperature, which influences the use of egg nutrients and embryo development. Incubation temperature ranging between 37 and 38°C (typically 37.5–37.8°C) optimizes hatchability. However, the temperature inside the egg called “embryo temperature” is not equal to the incubator air temperature. Moreover, embryo temperature is not constant, depending on the balance between embryonic heat production and heat transfer between the eggshell and its environment. Recently, many studies have been conducted on eggshell and/or incubation temperature to meet the needs of the embryo and to understand the embryonic requirements. Numerous studies have also demonstrated that cyclic increases in incubation temperature during the critical period of incubation could induce adaptive responses and increase the thermotolerance of chickens without affecting hatchability. Although the commercial incubation procedure does not have a constant lighting component, light during incubation can modify embryo development, physiology, and post-hatch behavior indicated by lowering stress responses and fearful behavior and improving spatial abilities and cognitive functions of chicken. Light-induced changes may be attributed to hemispheric lateralization and the entrainment of circadian rhythms in the embryo before the hatching. There is also evidence that light affects embryonic melatonin rhythms associated with body temperature regulation. The authors’ preliminary findings suggest that combining light and cyclic higher eggshell temperatures during incubation increases pineal aralkylamine N-acetyltransferase, which is a rate-limiting enzyme for melatonin hormone production. Therefore, combining light and thermal manipulation during the incubation could be a new approach to improve the resistance of broilers to heat stress. This review aims to provide an overview of studies investigating temperature and light manipulations to improve embryonic development, post-hatch growth, and adaptive stress response in chickens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sezen Özkan
- *Correspondence: Servet YALCIN, ; Sezen Özkan,
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Hopcroft RL, Groves PJ, Muir WI. Changes to Cobb 500 chick characteristics, bone ash, and residual yolk mineral reserves during time spent in the hatcher. Poult Sci 2020; 99:2176-2184. [PMID: 32241503 PMCID: PMC7587620 DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2019.11.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Revised: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous work has identified an effect of hatch time on chick femur mineralization. This experiment assessed the impact of hatch time and a 24-h post-hatch unfed time period on chick bone mineralization and yolk mineral utilization. In early hatching chicks, yolk Mg, Zn, K, P, Fe, and Cu decreased by 40 to 50% over the 24-h post-hatch unfed time period, whereas yolk Ca and Na decreased by 25 to 40% (P = 0.026). Yolk Sr was intermediate, decreasing by 37%. Late hatching chicks which had been hatched for no more than 30 h had a higher femur bone ash percentage compared to early hatching chicks which had spent over a 30-hour sojourn unfed in the incubator (P = 0.013). These results indicate that removing chicks from the incubator within 30 h of their hatch is likely to benefit their femoral mineralization.
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Affiliation(s)
- R L Hopcroft
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Poultry Research Foundation, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.
| | - P J Groves
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Poultry Research Foundation, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
| | - W I Muir
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Poultry Research Foundation, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
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The leg strength of two commercial strains of meat chicken subjected to different incubation profiles. Animal 2019; 13:1489-1497. [DOI: 10.1017/s1751731118002999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
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