Influence of pre-storage incubation on hatchability traits, thyroid hormones, antioxidative status and immunity of newly hatched chicks at two chicken breeder flock ages

Abstract

Egg storage longer than 7 days is associated with negative effects on hatchability traits. Pre-storage incubation has been a suggested method to reduce the negative effects of long-term storage times by enhancing the developmental stage of the embryo and probably reducing the embryonic stress. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of pre-storage incubation and storage time on hatchability characteristics, chick quality and serum thyroid hormones, antioxidative properties and immunoglobulin Y (IgY) concentrations of newly hatched chicks at two breeder flock ages. A total of 8000 fertile eggs were obtained from two different ages of chicken breeder hens (Egyptian local cross, Inshas). Half of the eggs were collected from young breeder hens (28 weeks old) and the other half from old breeder hens (50 weeks old). In each breeder flock age, eggs were distributed in a completely randomized experimental design in a 2×4 factorial arrangement, with two storage periods (4 or 14 days) and four pre-storage incubation durations (0, 4, 6 or 8 h at 37.5°C). At 28 and 50 weeks of age, pre-storage incubation and its interaction with storage period influenced significantly the apparent fertility, hatchability of set eggs and hatchability of fertile eggs and this improvement in hatchability is attributed to the reduction in embryonic mortality (early, intermediate and late). Pre-storage incubation for 6 or 8 h elevated significantly the grade A chicks and reduced the grade B chicks in comparison with non-heated controls. Interestingly, for eggs stored for 14 days, pre-storage incubation for 6 or 8 h enhanced serum triiodothyronine, thyroxine, glutathione peroxidase activity, total antioxidant capacity and IgY concentrations significantly and decreased serum malondialdehyde concentration significantly in the newly hatched chicks. It could be concluded that pre-storage incubation enhanced the hatching results, improved the antioxidative properties, reduced lipid peroxidation and elevated the humoral immunity in the newly hatched chicks. Hence, several benefits might be gained by pre-storage incubation when fertilized eggs will be stored for long periods.

Effects of maternal dietary vitamin E on the egg characteristics, hatchability and offspring quality of prolonged storage eggs of broiler breeder hens

“…However, in the present study, the early embryonic mortality decreased, whereas the hatchability of fertile eggs and set eggs increased as maternal VE levels increased, a finding that is similar to that observed in a study with astaxanthin supplementation of White Leghorn laying hen eggs stored at 21°C (Saito & Kita, 2011). Previous studies demonstrated that prolonged egg storage adversely influenced hatchability and embryonic mortality (Ebeid et al, 2017;Petek & Dikmen, 2006;Pokhrel et al, 2018). It has been suggested that the increased number of died embryos caused by long-term egg storage is related to the decreased number of viable embryonic cells, which is essential to the normal growth and development of the embryo (Fasenko, 2007).…”

The Effects of Broiler Breeder Dietary Vitamin E and Egg Storage Time on the Quality of Eggs and Newly Hatched Chicks

“…In the current study, prolonged egg storage time (14 vs. 0 d) increased the egg weight loss during storage and the early embryonic mortality, and decreased the fertility and hatchability of set/fertile eggs, chick weight, and the ratio of healthy chicks, which was consistent with the results of previous studies [1][2][3]5,6,9,24]. Fasenko et al [25] concluded that the increased embryonic mortality caused by long-term egg storage might be related to the increased egg weight loss during storage.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, little work has been done to evaluate the effect of prolonged egg storage time on the antioxidant status of newly hatched chicks. Only Ebeid et al [9] reported that the prolonged egg storage at 12 • C could increase the serum MDA content and decrease the serum T-AOC of 1-d-old chicks. These variations in results may be due to the different egg storage temperatures.…”

“…The weight of all the eggs for incubation was determined before and after the storage for 0 d or 14 d. During the egg incubation, all the eggs were candled at 7, 14, and 19 days of incubation, while the unhatched eggs after 21.5 d of incubation were open to determine the number of infertile eggs and dead embryos, which were divided into three categories according to the stage of embryonic mortality from d 1 to 7 (early), d 8 to 14 (mid), and d 15 to 21.5 (late). The calculations of the egg weight loss during storage, the fertility, the hatchability of set/fertile eggs, the embryonic mortality, the chick weight, and the ratio of healthy chicks were according to the description of Ebeid et al [9].…”

“…A previous study indicated that prolonged egg storage time (21 vs. 4 d) significantly up-or down-regulated the relative expression of the pro-apoptotic gene CASP9 (Caspase 9, apoptosis-related cysteine peptidase) and oxidative stress gene SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2, mitochondrial) in blastodermal cells [8]. Ebeid et al [9] reported that prolonged egg storage time from 4 d to 14 d decreased the hatchability of set/fertile eggs, increased the embryonic mortality, and negatively impacted the antioxidant status of newly hatched chicks. Oxidative stress appears to be a potential factor that caused lower hatchability and higher mortality in long-term egg storage.…”