Yeboah P P, Konadu L A, Hamidu J A, Poku E A, Wakpal D, Kudaya P Y, Dey A, Siddiq S M
Department of Animal Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana.
Vet World. 2019 Nov;12(11):1849-1857. doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1849-1857. Epub 2019 Nov 26.
The quality of day-old chicks is a cornerstone to successful poultry production. Chicks with a poor quality start slowly in the field and may have high feed intake, poor growth rate, and poor feed conversion ratio. The current study aimed to assess chick quality challenges encountered from day-old chicks hatched in most commercial hatcheries in Ghana.
A total of 300 day-old chicks each were obtained from commercial hatcheries in Ghana and Europe. The chicks were labeled as locally hatched broiler day-old chicks (LBDOC) and foreign hatched broiler day-old chicks (FBDOC), respectively. Chicks were reared and monitored from day old to 21 days post-hatch. Sample of chicks (n=25) from each hatchery was euthanized weekly at 1, 7, 14, and 21 days and blood samples collected for analysis. The parameters measured included physical, hematological, immunological, histological, and bacteriological characteristics. All data were analyzed by SAS Proc GLM at p<0.05.
The live weight of chicks was higher in FBDOC compared to LBDOC on the 1 day. The chick length and shank length of FBDOC were longer than the LBDOC. The 7-day chick mortality was 6% in LBDOC as compared to 1.5% in FBDOC. The LBDOC also had a higher wet and dry residual yolk sac percentages as well as higher residual yolk sac fluid volume than the FBDOC. The rate of yolk sac disappearance of the FBDOC was higher than the LBDOC. More than half of the LBDOC had developed navel strings and leaky navel compared to FBDOC. The LBDOC recorded , Proteus, spp., and Gram-negative bacteria in the residual yolk sac isolated through the 21 days while FBDOC recorded , Proteus, and Gram-negative bacteria. The intestinal villi count, lengths, width, and surface area were all not significantly different. The blood monocyte levels appeared higher in FBDOC than LBDOC, which give evidence of higher immunity in FBDOC than LBDOC.
The results indicate a challenging situation in maintaining the quality of locally hatched broiler day-old-chicks compared to foreign hatched broiler-day-old-chicks. The study demonstrates that chick quality impact goes beyond the physical characteristics of chick weight and chick length, and the higher performance of FBDOC may be influenced by compliance with international hatchery standards and vaccination protocols.
一日龄雏鸡的质量是家禽养殖成功的基石。质量差的雏鸡在养殖场起步缓慢，可能采食量高、生长速度慢且饲料转化率低。本研究旨在评估加纳大多数商业孵化场孵化的一日龄雏鸡所面临的雏鸡质量挑战。
分别从加纳和欧洲的商业孵化场获取总共300只一日龄雏鸡。这些雏鸡分别被标记为本地孵化的肉用一日龄雏鸡（LBDOC）和国外孵化的肉用一日龄雏鸡（FBDOC）。雏鸡从一日龄开始饲养并监测至孵化后21天。每周在第1、7、14和21天对每个孵化场的雏鸡样本（n = 25）实施安乐死，并采集血样进行分析。所测量的参数包括物理、血液学、免疫学、组织学和细菌学特征。所有数据采用SAS Proc GLM在p<0.05水平进行分析。
在第1天时，FBDOC雏鸡的活重高于LBDOC雏鸡。FBDOC雏鸡的雏鸡长度和胫长比LBDOC雏鸡长。LBDOC雏鸡7日龄死亡率为6%，而FBDOC雏鸡为1.5%。LBDOC雏鸡的湿、干残留卵黄囊百分比以及残留卵黄囊液体积也高于FBDOC雏鸡。FBDOC雏鸡的卵黄囊消失率高于LBDOC雏鸡。与FBDOC雏鸡相比，超过一半的LBDOC雏鸡出现了脐线和脐部渗漏。在整个21天期间，从LBDOC雏鸡残留卵黄囊中分离出变形杆菌属细菌和革兰氏阴性菌，而FBDOC雏鸡中分离出变形杆菌和革兰氏阴性菌。肠绒毛数量、长度、宽度和表面积均无显著差异。FBDOC雏鸡的血液单核细胞水平似乎高于LBDOC雏鸡，这表明FBDOC雏鸡的免疫力高于LBDOC雏鸡。
结果表明，与国外孵化的肉用一日龄雏鸡相比，维持本地孵化的肉用一日龄雏鸡质量面临挑战。该研究表明，雏鸡质量的影响超出了雏鸡体重和雏鸡长度的物理特征，FBDOC雏鸡的较高性能可能受到遵守国际孵化场标准和疫苗接种方案的影响。
