Effects of maternal dietary vitamin E on the egg characteristics, hatchability and offspring quality of prolonged storage eggs of broiler breeder hens

Abstract

This research aims to evaluate the effects of maternal vitamin E (VE) dietary supplementation on the egg characteristics, hatchability and antioxidant status of the embryo and newly hatched chicks of prolonged storage eggs. A total of 576 75‐week‐old Ross 308 breeder hens were randomly allocated into three dietary VE treatments (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) with 6 replicates of 32 hens, for a 12‐week feeding trial. At week 12, a total of 710 eggs were collected over a 5‐day period, and eggs per treatment were attributed into 5 replicates and stored for 14 days until incubation. The egg yolk, trunk and head of 7‐day‐old embryo and the serum, liver, brain and yolk sac of newly hatched chicks were sampled for the evaluation of antioxidant status. Results showed that as maternal dietary VE levels increased, yolk α‐tocopherol concentration increased (p < .05). Compared with 100 mg/kg VE, the use of 200 and 400 mg/kg VE increased the hatchability of set/fertile eggs and total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) of liver and serum in chicks (p < .05), and decreased both the early embryonic mortality and the malondialdehyde (MDA) content of trunk and head in 7‐day‐old embryos (p < .05); moreover, 400 mg/kg VE increased the yolk T‐AOC (p < .05) and decreased yolk and brain MDA content of chicks (p < .05). Brain T‐AOC of chicks in 200 mg/kg VE group was improved compared to that of chicks in 100 mg/kg VE group (p < .05). In conclusion, maternal dietary VE at 200 or 400 mg/kg could increase hatchability by decreasing early embryonic mortality and increasing the antioxidant status of egg yolk, embryo and newly hatched chicks as breeder egg storage was prolonged to 14–18 days. The suitable VE level for the broiler breeder diet was 200 mg/kg as breeder egg storage was prolonged.

Effects of Maternal and Progeny Dietary Vitamin E on Growth Performance and Antioxidant Status of Progeny Chicks before and after Egg Storage

“…According to Araújo et al [ 34 ], in ovo feeding of VE at 17.5 d of embryonic development increased the relative weight of small intestine and the villus height in duodenum of newly hatched chicks, and decreased the FCR post-hatch (1 to 7, 1 to 14, and 1 to 21 d). In our previous studies, compared to 100 mg/kg VE, maternal dietary supplementation of 200 or 400 mg/kg VE increased the hatchability of prolonged storage eggs [ 26 ], but not for that of the unstored eggs (Yang, unpublished data). Correspondingly, in the present study, maternal dietary VE levels of 200 or 400 mg/kg were beneficial to the growth performance of the offspring hatched from prolonged storage eggs, but not for that of the offspring hatched from unstored eggs.…”

“…Breeder hens were fed a basal mash diet ( Table 1 ) supplemented with 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg VE (the dose of 100 mg/kg was the nutrient recommendation of Ross 308 parent stock) for 12 weeks. The management of breeders was the same as the description of Yang et al [ 26 ].…”

“…Homogenates were then centrifuged at 1500× g for 10 min at 4 °C to obtain the supernatant fluid. The determination of serum and liver malondialdehyde (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) was according to the description of our previous study [ 26 ] and the methods of specific as-say kits, purchased from the Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering institute of China.…”

“…Dymond et al [ 15 ] further observed that the short periods of incubation during egg storage improved the growth performance of offspring. Our previous studies have demonstrated that maternal dietary VE supplementation increased the hatchability and the antioxidant status of embryos and newly hatched chicks in the case of long-term egg storage [ 26 , 27 ]. Yet, no work has been performed to evaluate whether or not increased maternal dietary VE supplementation could further improve the growth performance of offspring hatched from stored eggs, as eggs were commonly stored in commercial poultry production.…”

Effects of breeder age on embryonic development, hatching results, chick quality, and growing performance of the slow-growing genotype

“…In the present study, embryos in the last stage of development (19–21 d) from old breeders made more use of the yolk sac, which resulted in greater tissue gain when compared to embryos from young breeders. The use of nutrients present in eggs is fundamental to greater development of embryos ( Yang et al., 2020 ), and embryos from older breeders tend to make better use of the nutrients present in the egg ( Araújo et al., 2016 ). The higher conductance of eggshells of older breeders, which allows greater oxygen entry, may have favored beta-oxidation of the yolk sac and, consequently, the use of the nutritional contribution of the egg yolk ( Araújo et al., 2017 ).…”