Boothe Siobhan M, Calik Ali, Emami Nima K, Dalloul Rami A
Department of Animal & Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Department of Poultry Science, Avian Immunobiology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Department of Animal Nutrition & Nutritional Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, 06110, Türkiye.
Poult Sci. 2024 Dec;103(12):104323. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104323. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
The effects of traditional and on-farm hatching systems on broiler performance and health under a subclinical necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge were evaluated in this study. A 2×2 factorial study explored the effects of place of hatch (on-farm hatched [OFH] vs. hatchery hatched [HH]) and NE challenge (nonchallenged vs. challenged) on broilers. Cobb 500 eggs (∼E19) were acquired from a commercial hatchery; 840 eggs were placed in pens on clean shavings in prewarmed floor pens and allowed to hatch out, while 927 eggs were placed in a hatcher set under standard practices. On day (d) of hatch, all chicks were weighed and randomly distributed to 4 treatments (8 replicate pens each and 30 birds/pen). The OFH birds were placed immediately after sorting while HH birds were placed back in the hatcher overnight to simulate commercial hatchery procedures. After placing HH birds, feed and litter in the challenge group pens were sprayed with a live oocyst coccidia vaccine as a predisposing factor to NE. The small intestines of 3 male chicks per pen were scored for NE lesions (n = 24) on d 8 (peak NE challenge) and jejunal samples were collected from 1 bird per pen for RNA extraction and qPCR on d 8 and d 14. Data were analyzed using JMP Pro17 and significance between treatments was identified by LSD (P ≤ 0.05). Regardless of the hatching system, the subclinical NE challenge caused a significant reduction in average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI), and increased feed conversion ratio (FCR) until d 28 (P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, OFH birds exhibited significantly better growth (P ≤ 0.05) through d 28 but had similar performance to HH birds by d 42. There were no significant differences in NE lesion scores between HH and OFH groups. In conclusion, OFH system resulted in better broiler performance compared to HH system under both no-challenge and challenge conditions during the starter and grower periods. This practice may hold potential for further exploration by the industry as an alternative to traditional hatching, aiming to improve the welfare and productivity of broilers.
本研究评估了传统孵化系统和农场孵化系统在亚临床坏死性肠炎（NE）挑战下对肉鸡生产性能和健康的影响。一项2×2析因研究探讨了孵化地点（农场孵化[OFH]与孵化场孵化[HH]）和NE挑战（未受挑战与受挑战）对肉鸡的影响。从一家商业孵化场获取科宝500枚鸡蛋（约E19）；840枚鸡蛋放置在预热地面围栏内铺有干净刨花的围栏中孵化，而927枚鸡蛋按照标准做法放置在孵化机中。在孵化日（d），对所有雏鸡称重并随机分配到4种处理组（每组8个重复围栏，每围栏30只鸡）。OFH组雏鸡在挑选后立即放置，而HH组雏鸡放回孵化机过夜以模拟商业孵化场程序。在放置HH组雏鸡后，向挑战组围栏中的饲料和垫料喷洒活球虫卵囊疫苗，作为NE的诱发因素。在第8天（NE挑战高峰期）对每围栏3只雄性雏鸡的小肠进行NE病变评分（n = 24），并在第8天和第14天从每围栏1只鸡采集空肠样本用于RNA提取和qPCR。使用JMP Pro17分析数据，通过最小显著差法（LSD）确定处理组之间的显著性（P≤0.05）。无论孵化系统如何，亚临床NE挑战均导致平均日增重（ADG）和平均日采食量（ADFI）显著降低，且在第28天前饲料转化率（FCR）升高（P≤0.05）。此外，OFH组雏鸡在第28天前生长显著更好（P≤0.05），但到第（此处原文有误，推测为42）天其性能与HH组雏鸡相似。HH组和OFH组之间的NE病变评分无显著差异。总之，在育雏期和生长期，无论是无挑战还是有挑战条件下，OFH系统相比HH系统均能使肉鸡生产性能更好。作为传统孵化的替代方法，这种做法可能具有进一步被行业探索的潜力，旨在提高肉鸡的福利和生产力。
