Effects of moment of hatch and feed access on chicken development

D. M. Lamot*†, I. B. van de Linde*, R. Molenaar‡, C. W. van der Pol†‡, P. J. A. Wijtten*, B. Kemp†, H. van den Brand†

*Cargill Animal Nutrition Innovation Center Velddriel, Veilingweg 23, NL-5534LD Velddriel, the Netherlands; † Adaptation Physiology Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 338, NL-6700AH Wageningen, the Netherlands; ‡ HatchTech B.V., PO Box 256, NL-3900AG Veenendaal, the Netherlands.

The current study evaluated effects of hatch moment and immediate feed and water access within a 24-h hatch window on chicken growth and development. In practice access to feed for day-old chicks is delayed, due to variation in hatch time, hatchery management and transport time. Early feeding seems beneficial for chick development, but the relation between diet composition and post-hatch development is hardly known. This study evaluates the effect of different feed types on chick development.

420 day-old chicks were randomly assigned to 7 treatments: no feed, dextrose, boiled eggwhite, mixture of 50% boiled egg-white and 50% dextrose, oat hulls and 2 commercial products. All fed chicks received 5 gram of feed per bird per day, without additional water, till 3 days posthatch. Twenty chicks per day were evaluated on chick length, body weight, intestine length, residual yolk, heart, spleen, liver and bursa of Fabricius till 3 days post-hatch. Download the entire article via the button below.

Residual yolk weight decreased from hatch till 3 days post-hatch, regardless of treatment P>0.01). Egg-white, dextrose or a mixture of both, resulted in an advanced development of chicks, demonstrated by a significant increase in chick weight, yolk free body mass, heart weight, liver weight and longer intestine.