Vertical integration in poultry industry strongly emphasizes the importance of cost control at all levels. In the usual broiler production operations, the costs involved with the production of the hatching egg or the day old chick are negligible if seen in the perspective of the cost per kg of live bird.From a research point of view, anyway, the greatest attention is usually given to the performance of broiler breeders, and most of the research in the field is focused on the improvement of their relative performance, mainly in terms of saleable chicks produced per hen, while less attention has been given to the quality of the chick and to the improvement of its growth performances, even if these last parameters have an effective impact on the overall economics of the poultry growing business. Most of the data available is quite dated, as can be seen from some recent reviews, and in general little attention is given to the impact of parental nutrition on the subsequent broiler performance. It is in fact more usual to find data about dam nutrition influence on egg fertility and hatchability than on subsequent progeny performance.The objectives of this review were to assess, on the basis of published reports, the effects of selected nutrients and anti-nutrients normally prevailing in commercial broiler breeder feeds -vitamins, micro-minerals, mycotoxins, -trying to pinpoint which could be the positive and the negative effects of both on the subsequent broiler performance, with a particular attention to the impact on immune function and carcass yield.

Broiler chicken production is expected to increase significantly in the next decades to satisfy the poultry meat demand of a growing world population. In this scenario, one of the most important challenges for the poultry industry is to enhance bird productivity while remaining economically and environmentally sustainable. Feeding represents the major cost in raising of broiler chickens and has important implications for environmental impact, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, improving broiler capacity in converting ingested feed into body growth, which is generally referred to as feed efficiency (often expressed through the feed conversion ratio), is fundamental to promoting a sustainable intensification of poultry production. In this review, we highlight the importance of feed efficiency improvements in terms of overall sustainability for the broiler chicken production chain. Furthermore, the potential of feed additive-based nutritional strategies, such as the dietary administration of crystalline amino acids, proteases, phytases and organic minerals, is critically discussed in the light of their role in supporting the sustainable intensification of this crucial livestock sector.

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Objective This Workshop offers a forum to colleagues from academia and industry. It will present a critical re‐appraisal on the rational of the EU ban, and the overall economic impact of this measure as well as regulatory attempts to stimulate licensing of new products. Additional contributions are devoted to current RD activities within the industry, and new targets and strategies in product development will be presented and discussed.