Effect of age of hen, egg weight, and sex on chick performance and lipid retention.

Experiments were conducted to determine whether age of hen, weight of the egg, and sex of the chick affected fat retention and growth of the broiler chick. Chicks were fed a corn and soybean meal diet containing 5% supplemental poultry fat. In the first study, eggs from two ages of hens were compared (30 and 52 wk) with six egg weight classes per age. The second experiment consisted of three hen ages (31, 37, and 47 wk) with three egg weight classes per age. The results indicated that as hen age and egg weight increased, BW gain of the chicks increased but feed efficiency and fat retention were not affected. Females had improved fat retention when compared with males. When analyzed within each egg weight class, there was no age effect on fat retention, BW gain, or feed efficiency.