Wang Guangju, Huang Zhenwu, Yu Miao, Kemp Bas, Zhang Minhong, van den Brand Henry
State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; Adaptation Physiology Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen 6700 AA, the Netherlands.
State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Poult Sci. 2025 Jun 17;104(9):105452. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2025.105452.
Acute and chronic heat stress are critical stress factors in broiler breeder management. Acute heat stress not only can negatively impact maternal reproduction performance, but also their offspring's health and quality, whereas effects of chronic heat stress remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of chronic mild maternal heat stress on egg quality, embryo development, and day-old chick quality. Broiler breeder hens (n = 144) were randomly assigned to either thermal neutral (20°C; TN) temperature or heat stress (32°C; HS) continuously for 8 weeks with 6 replicate pens per treatment. The HS treatment resulted from week 4 onward in lower egg weight, yolk weight, albumen weight and height, and eggshell thickness (all P < 0.05). Egg weight throughout incubation was lower in the HS treatment, but fertility ( P = 0.28) and hatchability of fertile eggs ( P = 0.32) did not differ between treatments. Physical chick quality at hatch did not differ ( P > 0.05) between treatments. However, at day 18 of incubation, chicks from the HS group had lower yolk-free body mass (YFBM) and breast muscle weight than the TN group. At pulling, they showed lower body weight, residual yolk sac weight, ileum weight, and higher liver weight (all P < 0.05) compared to the TN group. These results suggest that heat stress in broiler breeders not only negatively affects egg quality, but also has negative carryover effects on embryo development and day-old chick characteristics.
急性和慢性热应激是肉种鸡养殖管理中的关键应激因素。急性热应激不仅会对母鸡的繁殖性能产生负面影响，还会影响其后代的健康和品质，而慢性热应激的影响仍知之甚少。本研究的目的是调查慢性轻度母体热应激对蛋品质、胚胎发育和一日龄雏鸡品质的影响。将144只肉种鸡母鸡随机分为两组，一组置于热中性温度（20°C；TN）环境，另一组置于热应激温度（32°C；HS）环境，持续8周，每组设6个重复栏。从第4周开始，HS组的蛋重、蛋黄重、蛋白重和高度以及蛋壳厚度均降低（所有P<0.05）。整个孵化期内，HS组的蛋重较低，但两组之间的受精率（P=0.28）和受精蛋孵化率（P=0.32）没有差异。孵化时雏鸡的身体品质在两组之间没有差异（P>0.05）。然而，在孵化第18天时，HS组雏鸡的无蛋黄体重（YFBM）和胸肌重量低于TN组。出雏时，与TN组相比，HS组雏鸡体重、残留卵黄囊重量、回肠重量较低，肝脏重量较高（所有P<0.05）。这些结果表明，肉种鸡的热应激不仅会对蛋品质产生负面影响，还会对胚胎发育和一日龄雏鸡特征产生负面的遗留效应。
