Breeder Age and Hatching Egg Storage Duration: Effects on Post-Hatch Performance of FUNAAB- α Broiler Chickens

Abstract

This trial was designed to evaluate the influence of hatching egg storage length and broiler breeder hens’ age on posthatch growth performance and physiological responses of FUNAAB-α chickens. Five hundred fertile eggs from each of 60 and 32 weeks old FUNAAB-α breeder hens were collected and assigned to 5 storage durations (0, 3, 7, 11 and 15 days). The hatching eggs were incubated using the conventional protocol. Data were collected on the growth performance and physiological responses. A 2x5 factorial design was used for the experiment. The results revealed that there was a decline in the final body weight in chickens from eggs of 15 and 11 days storage compared to the chickens from 7, 3 and 0 egg storage days. Chickens of 32 weeks old breeder hens had higher (p<0.05) mean corpuscular volume, white blood cell, heterophil and pack cell volume values compared to 60 weeks old breeder hens. Hatchlings from 60 weeks old breeders had a higher liver percentage (3.0% YFBW) than those from 32 weeks old breeders (2.8% YFBW). It was concluded that an extended storage duration of 15 days adversely affected the carcass traits and growth performance of chickens from egg storage above seven days.