Effect of low incubation temperature and low ambient temperature until 21 days of age on performance and body temperature in fast-growing chickens

Abstract

Thermal manipulation during embryogenesis was previously reported to decrease the occurrence of ascites and to potentially improve cold tolerance of broilers. The objective of our study was to explore the effects of the interaction of cold incubation temperatures and cool ambient temperatures until 21 d of age on performance and body temperature. Ross 308 eggs were incubated either under control conditions I0 (37.6°C) or with cyclic cold stimulations I1 (6 h/d at 36.6°C from d 10 to 18 of incubation) or with 2 cold stimulations I2 (30 min at 15°C) at d 18 and 19 of incubation. These treatments were followed by individual rearing and postnatal exposure to either standard rearing temperature T0 (from 33°C at hatching to 21°C at d 21) or continuously lower temperature T2 (from 28°C at hatching to 21°C at d 21) or exposure to cyclically lower temperature T1 (with circadian temperature oscillations). Treatments I1 and I2 did not significantly alter hatchability compared to control incubation (with 94.8, 95.1, and 92.3%, respectively), or hatching BW and overall chick quality. Hatching body temperature (Tb) was 0.5 and 0.3°C higher in I1 than in I0 and I2 groups, respectively (P = 0.007). A doubled occurrence of health problems was observed with T2 condition, regardless of incubation or sex. At d 3, BW was 2% lower with treatment I1 than with I0 and I2 and was 3% higher in T1 and T2 groups than in T0, but these effects disappeared with age. Group T2 presented a 5% higher feed intake than the control group T0 between 3 and 21 d of age (P = 0.025). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was affected by experimental conditions (P < 0.001), with low FCR values obtained with I2 incubation in control or cyclically cold postnatal conditions. Maximal FCR values were observed in the continuously cold postnatal conditions, in males submitted to control incubation and in females submitted to I1 incubation, revealing sex-dependent effects of the treatments on performance.

Embryonic thermal manipulation has short and long-term effects on the development and the physiology of the Japanese quail

“…Incubation parameters such as temperature [2], light [3] or noise [4] are known to impact development and behavior. In a context of climate change, with an increase of global average temperature and the occurrence of extreme heatwaves [5], numerous studies have reported the utilization of the thermal-manipulation (TM) of eggs during the incubation period to improve the later-life heat tolerance of chickens [2,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and turkeys [17,18] or to modify muscle development in ducks [19][20][21]. The TM consists in a modification of the incubation temperature of avian eggs during embryogenesis, which is often cyclic and applied during defined periods of the embryonic development.…”

Short cold exposures during incubation and postnatal cold temperature affect performance, breast meat quality, and welfare parameters in broiler chickens

“…Concerning hatching parameters, on the one hand, negative effect of incubation temperature I 0 or I 1 was observed neither on hatchability (more than 95% in both conditions) or on body temperature nor on BW of hatched chicks, as previously shown by Shinder et al. (2011) and Nyuiadzi et al. (2017) .…”

“…The parameters considered consequently to these treatments relate to growth performance and feed efficiency, but also meat processing quality and defects, and animal welfare criteria. Previous experiments had permitted to compare the effects of 2 published methods of cold embryo manipulation ( Shinder et al., 2011 , Yalçin et al., 2012 ) combined to continuous or fluctuating 4°C colder or standard postnatal temperatures ( Nyuiadzi et al., 2017 ) during the first 21 d of age in Ross 308 broilers. These studies, conducted in pens for the first two and in cages for the latter, allowed determining thermal conditions of incubation and postnatal rearing enhancing cold adaptation of chicks that had little to no impact on performance in the long term.…”

“…Especially, brooding chicks at low temperatures (26.7°C vs. 32.2°C) results in a decreased feed efficiency and increased mortality rate ( Renwick and Washburn, 1982 ). Fast-growing broilers exhibit greater ascites prevalence ( Druyan et al., 2007 ) and leg disorders ( Yalçin et al., 2007 , Zhang et al., 2014 , Nyuiadzi et al., 2017 ) when they are subjected to low rearing temperatures after hatching.…”

“…The late phase of embryogenesis corresponds to the switch of embryos from the ectothermic phase to the endothermic phase when a higher ability to produce heat is acquired ( Minne and Decuypere, 1984 , Nichelmann and Tzschentke, 2002 , Tzschentke, 2007 ). Cold stimulations during embryogenesis were shown to induce long-lasting effects partially limiting the detrimental effects of postnatal cold temperatures on feed conversion ratio ( FCR ) in males reared in cages ( Nyuiadzi et al., 2017 ).…”