Breeder nutrition and offspring performance

Abstract

Vertical integration in poultry industry strongly emphasizes the importance of cost control at all levels. In the usual broiler production operations, the costs involved with the production of the hatching egg or the day old chick are negligible if seen in the perspective of the cost per kg of live bird.From a research point of view, anyway, the greatest attention is usually given to the performance of broiler breeders, and most of the research in the field is focused on the improvement of their relative performance, mainly in terms of saleable chicks produced per hen, while less attention has been given to the quality of the chick and to the improvement of its growth performances, even if these last parameters have an effective impact on the overall economics of the poultry growing business. Most of the data available is quite dated, as can be seen from some recent reviews, and in general little attention is given to the impact of parental nutrition on the subsequent broiler performance. It is in fact more usual to find data about dam nutrition influence on egg fertility and hatchability than on subsequent progeny performance.The objectives of this review were to assess, on the basis of published reports, the effects of selected nutrients and anti-nutrients normally prevailing in commercial broiler breeder feeds -vitamins, micro-minerals, mycotoxins, -trying to pinpoint which could be the positive and the negative effects of both on the subsequent broiler performance, with a particular attention to the impact on immune function and carcass yield.

Supplementation of broiler breeders with fat sources and vitamin e: carry over effect on performance, carcass yield, and meat quality offspring

“…The nutrients required for chicken embryo development are derived from the nutrients stored in the egg, whose nutrient profile changes with the maternal diet and thereby creates differences in nutritional status of offspring (Calini and Sirri, 2007). Peebles et al (2002) showed that the type of fat that is included in the maternal diet affects the body composition of offspring at the age of slaughter.…”

The effect of arginine dietary supplementation in broiler breeder hens on offspring humoral and cell-mediated immune responses

“…The requirements of broiler breeder hens for specific immunomodulatory nutrients and their impact on the health, and consequently the production of broiler chickens, also need to be continually reviewed because of the rapid genetic changes (Calini & Sirri, 2007).…”

Effects of dietary arginine supplementation on broiler breeder egg production and hatchability

“…Considering a breeder produces 130-140 chicks during its life time, small variations in breeder performance resulting from better nutrient intake have an important impact on farm profitablity (Calini & Sirri, 2007).…”