IMPROVING HATCHABILITY OF POST-PEAK EGG PRODUCTION BROILER BREEDERS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0205735
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2005
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2009
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
202 HIMES HALL
BATON ROUGE,LA 70803-0100

Performing Department
School of Animal Science

Non Technical Summary
Hatchability of broiler breeder eggs declines as birds get older. Due to the development of high yield broilers the decline in hatchability has increased. This project evaluates egg storage and incubation conditions as possible solutions in response to the decline in hatchability.

Animal Health Component

40%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

40%

Developmental

50%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
301	3220	1010	10%
301	3220	1020	30%
301	3220	1050	60%

Knowledge Area
301 - Reproductive Performance of Animals;

Subject Of Investigation
3220 - Meat-type chicken, live animal;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 1020 - Physiology; 1050 - Developmental biology;

Keywords

broiler breeder

hatchability

reproductive efficiency

hatchability of fertile eggs

early embryo mortality

late embryo mortality

chicken

poultry

incubation

Goals / Objectives
The first objective is to evaluate current egg handling and management procedures of eggs produced by post-peak egg production broiler breeders prior to incubation. Another objective is to evaluate current egg incubation procedures of eggs produced by post-peak egg production broiler breeders. The third objective is to develop new management and incubation programs to improve hatchability of eggs produced by post-peak egg production broiler breeders.

Project Methods
An initial experiment will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of holding eggs small end up versus small end down (normal) and also turning versus unturned (normal) during holding on hatchability of post-peak high yield broiler breeder eggs. A 2x2 factorial arrangement of treatments over time will be used. There will be two egg positions (small end up vs. small end down) and two turning types (turned daily vs. unturned) with 3 replications of 150 eggs (one incubator tray) per treatment/rep combination. Eighteen hundred fresh eggs will be obtained from at least two flocks of 40+/- one week of age in order to avoid confounding flock effects with treatment effects. The eggs will be stored under normal temperature and relative humidity conditions for 3 days. The eggs will be incubated under standard commercial incubation procedures. At 7 days of incubation, the eggs will be candled and true fertility as well as number of early deads will be recorded. At hatch, hatch of fertile eggs, total hatchability, percent pips, and percent late deads will be calculated. All unhatched eggs will be broken, and time of embryo death will be determined. Dead embryos will be classified as early, mid, or late deads. This experiment will be repeated with the same flocks when the birds are 10 and 20 weeks older. Data will be analyzed by ANOVA and t-tests used to separate means when appropriate. We plan to investigate the possible benefits of pre-incubation warming of post-peak eggs. Our plans are to investigate the effectiveness of pre-incubation for short periods of time to progress blastoderm development prior to storage. An experiment will be conducted with eggs obtained and handled as previously described. The eggs will be divided into 4 treatments, non-warmed or warmed to 23 degrees C for either 2, 4, or 6 hours, with 3 replications of 150 eggs. The eggs will then be stored under normal conditions, incorporating the positive effects found on hatchability in previous experiments, for the remainder of the 3 day storage period. This experiment will also be repeated when the birds are 10 and 20 weeks older. Once again, the parameters will be the same as in the previously described experiment. Data will undergo regression analysis to develop a response curve for each of the variables at each time and across flock age. For the second objective, the project will investigate some aspects of the incubation process. Eggs will be obtained and handled as previously described and stored for 3 days incorporating any positive effects from earlier experiments. There will be 3 replications containing 150 eggs in each of 4 treatments, transferred on either day 19 (normal), 18, 17, or 16. As previously described, the experiment will be repeated when the flocks involved are 10 and 20 weeks older. The parameters studied will be the same as described in previous experiments. Percentages will be handled as previously described and regression analysis conducted to develop a response curve for each variable at each flock age and across ages. For the third objective once these data are collected and positive effects are shown, a management program will be formulated.

Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Results were summarized and presented at annual meetings of the Poultry Science Association and Southern Poultry Science Society. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were the primary investigators, graduate, and undergraduate students. The project provided training for the students in conducting research and in commercial hatchery management. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience is hatchery and broiler breeder managers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Experiments were conducted to determine if hatchability could be improved by egg position and egg turning during storage. Several experiments were conducted in an attempt to improve hatchability by heating eggs prior to incubation. Trials were conducted heating eggs prior to normal commercial storage periods, and also in other trials eggs were heated for varying periods daily during the storage period. Another set of trials investigated the effects of cooling eggs during the hatching process on hatchability. Turning eggs and egg position during normal commercial storage periods did not significantly affect hatchability. When eggs were heated prior to incubation, incubation period was shortened comparably, and when eggs were cooled prior to incubation, incubation period was lengthened comparably. Cooling eggs during the hatching process did not significantly improve fertile hatchability. When eggs were warmed for up to 150 minutes daily during normal commercial storage periods, fertile hatchability was not significantly affected. Warming eggs prior to storage gave mixed results. Trials using Ross 308 broiler breeders showed no significant affect of pre-storage warming on fertile hatchability. Trials using Ross 708 broiler breeders showed a significant improvement in fertile hatchability. These trials also included a one day adjustment period for the eggs before the trials began. Unfortunately, strain was not a variable in any of the trials conducted.

Publications

• Dowden, J, D. Ingram, and G. Johnson. 2008. Hatchability of Eggs From Young and Old Broiler Breeders as Influenced by Egg Position and Turning During Storage. Poultry Sci. 87 (suppl 1): 169.
• Homan, K., D. Ingram, and C. Wiggins. 2008. Hatchability of Post-Peak Egg Production Broiler Breeder Eggs as Influenced by Pre-Storage Warming. Poultry Sci. 87 (suppl 1): 170.
• Rabalais, J. G., D. Ingram, J. Dowden, K. Homan, and C. Wiggins. 2008. Hatchability of end-of-lay broiler breeder eggs as influenced by cooling during incubation. Poultry Sci. 87 (suppl 1): 104.
• Gamble, T., J. Dowden, and D. Ingram. 2009. Effects of warming end of lay broiler breeder eggs during the storage period on hatchability. Poultry Sci. 88 (suppl 1): 78.

Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Cooling eggs during incubation did not increase hatchability of end-of-lay broiler breeders. No significant effect was found. However, the incubation period was lengthened proportionally to cooling period. Results of hatchability research were published in two abstracts and one popular press article. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for this project include: poultry producers and professionals. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
In order to determine if hatchability of end-of-lay broiler breeder eggs could be improved by cooling during the last days of incubation, several experiments were conducted. Eggs were cooled for either 0, 40, 80, 120 minutes on days 18-20 of incubation. None of the treatments improved fertile hatchability. All of the cooling treatments lengthened the incubation process.

Publications

• Dowden, J, D.Ingram, and G, Johnson. 2008. Hatchability of eggs from young and old broiler breeders as influcenced by egg position and turning during storage. Poultry Sci. 87 (169)
• Homan, K., D. Ingram, and C. Wiggins. 2008. Hatchability of post-peak egg production broiler breeders eggs as influenced by pre-storage warming. Poultry Sci. 87 (170)
• Homan, K., D. Ingram, and C.B Wiggins, II,. 2008. Hatchability of post-peak egg production broiler breeder eggs as influenced by pre-incubation warming. Feelinfo News Service Scientific Reviews. March 2008.

Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07

Outputs
No outputs reported.

Impacts
Six trials were conducted to determine the effects of pre-incubation warming of end-of-lay broiler breeder hatching eggs. No significant improvements in hatchability were accomplished. However, we did show that eggs could be warmed to 37.5 degrees Celsius for as long as 15 hours prior to storage without having a negative effect on hatchability. This is contrary to management recommendations that the industry has practiced for more than 60 years. It is clear now that it is not as critical to quickly cool eggs once they have been laid. This information would be very valuable in power outages, times of inclement weather, etc. Two additional trials were conducted to determine if there were any improvements in the hatchability of eggs from young and old broiler breeders when these eggs were turned and placed in different positions during storage. No significant improvements in hatchability were found.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06

Outputs
The initial months of this project have been spent conducting small-scale experiments using eggs from old broiler breeder flocks in order to gain a better understanding of some of the egg storage and incubation requirements. Several experiments have been conducted to determine if egg turning and the frequency of turning were beneficial during normal commercial storage periods. These experiments also investigated egg position during storage. It was concluded that if there is an improvement in hatchability due to egg turning, the frequency of turning does not need to be very high. In fact, turning once per day may be sufficient. There appeared to be some indications that storing eggs on their side may be beneficial to hatchability in eggs from older birds. In addition, several small trials were conducted to determine if pre-incubation warming of eggs from old broiler breeder flocks could improve hatchability. Results indicated that there were no benefits from warming eggs more than ten hours prior to storage. Also, trials were conducted with eggs from old broiler breeders to investigate the benefits of short cooling periods during the last week of incubation. Any improvements in hatchability would be obtained with cooling periods of less than one hour per day during the last week of incubation. Currently, a trial is underway using 1440 eggs from two 60-week-old broiler breeder flocks. The trial has two turning treatments (not turned and turned once a day) and three egg position treatments (large end up, horizontal, and small end up). A second trial is scheduled to begin later this month to investigate pre-incubation warming, and a third trial at the end of the month will investigate cooling during incubation.

Impacts
A small increase in hatchability can result in tremendous profits for the poultry industry and millions more chickens from the same amount of eggs. This research could make poultry production more efficient.

Publications

• No publications reported this period