The document discusses how chick size at hatching influences subsequent performance. Recent studies show positive correlations between newly-hatched chick length and later performance. Longer chicks tend to have better developed organs like the heart and liver. Research indicates longer chicks convert feed more efficiently as broilers, resulting in 100-140g less feed needed per 2kg broiler. As chick length reflects development during incubation, hatcheries may need to re-evaluate what defines "good" incubation results beyond metrics like hatchability and cost per chick.
The document discusses how chick size at hatching influences subsequent performance. Recent studies show positive correlations between newly-hatched chick length and later performance. Longer chicks tend to have better developed organs like the heart and liver. Research indicates longer chicks convert feed more efficiently as broilers, resulting in 100-140g less feed needed per 2kg broiler. As chick length reflects development during incubation, hatcheries may need to re-evaluate what defines "good" incubation results beyond metrics like hatchability and cost per chick.
The document discusses how chick size at hatching influences subsequent performance. Recent studies show positive correlations between newly-hatched chick length and later performance. Longer chicks tend to have better developed organs like the heart and liver. Research indicates longer chicks convert feed more efficiently as broilers, resulting in 100-140g less feed needed per 2kg broiler. As chick length reflects development during incubation, hatcheries may need to re-evaluate what defines "good" incubation results beyond metrics like hatchability and cost per chick.
The document discusses how chick size at hatching influences subsequent performance. Recent studies show positive correlations between newly-hatched chick length and later performance. Longer chicks tend to have better developed organs like the heart and liver. Research indicates longer chicks convert feed more efficiently as broilers, resulting in 100-140g less feed needed per 2kg broiler. As chick length reflects development during incubation, hatcheries may need to re-evaluate what defines "good" incubation results beyond metrics like hatchability and cost per chick.
Recent studies indicate that there are positive correlations between the length of newlyhatched chicks and their subsequent performance. These results could influence traditional ideas about what typifies good results in incubation. By Ron Meijerhof, senior technical specialist, Hybro BV, Boxmeer (Netherlands)
ncubation is a miracle of life: a delicate process that requires high levels
of understanding and control for us to replicate the natural process that successfully transforms the contents of a fertile egg into a living, day-old chick. Around the world, the incubation sector has come to understand how sensitive these processes are - and how subtle the changes in settings and conditions can be, to make the difference between good and poor results. But questions arise: what typifies good results in incubation? Which incubation results are really important to the rest of the poultry production chain?
Quantity or quality? Traditionally, the performance of the hatchery is judged by the number of chicks it produces from the setting of fertile eggs. Increasingly, that judgement is further consolidated by factoring in the cost price per chick hatched. Although quantity and cost price are important issues, they fall short of fully describing the influence that the hatchery can have in determining results throughout the
Chick length is an indicator for chick quality and potential growth
total integration. And although survival
rate in the first week is an important trait related to the quality of the incubation process, this measurement alone does not adequately express the importance of incubation in the context of the whole production chain. Research has shown that the quality of the day-old chicken and, by association, the quality of the incubation process, has a major influence on determining the subsequent performance of broilers at processing age. In an experiment at Penn State University a difference of five to seven points in feed conversion for broilers at six weeks of age was observed, depending on the temperature conditions in the last five days of incubation. As this relates to 100 to 140 g of feed for a 2 kg broiler, it is clear that the benefits of a good incubation process go far beyond a good hatch of fertiles or a low cost per chick hatched.
Chick weight and length
During incubation, the content of the egg is used by the embryo to build up its body. The energy for this process comes mainly from the absorption of the yolk. As we know, any remaining yolk is taken up in the body cavity before hatching, to sustain the chick in its first days posthatch. This means that if we measure day old chick weight, we measure not only the weight of physical chick that is formed during incubation, but we are also weighing the remaining yolk and cannot distinguish between the two. For example, a 45 g day old chick weight may be a combination of 35 g physical chick plus 10 g of residual yolk, or it may be 42 g chick plus 3 g residual yolk. A difference of just 7 g in actual bodyweight, means that the 42 g chick has developed 20% more body tissue than the 35 g chick. This is evident not only in the weight of the so-called yolk free body mass (chick without yolk) but also in the
Longer chicks have better organs
Initial research by the Dutch incubator manufacturing company Hatchtech showed that there is a positive correlation between chick length at day 0 and chick weight at day 7. Following that work the idea was born that a longer chick would possibly have better developed organs. During a consecutive trial the researchers could prove that the heart, liver and spleen were better developed at day 7 in the large chick length group compared to the small chick length group. The difference in heart and liver weight was not significantly different between the large and middle chick length group, probably due to the small difference between the groups in chick length.
Table 1 Average weight and length of chick parameters per group of chick length
Chick length day 0 Heart
Liver Spleen (cm)* (gr)* (gr)* (gr)* large chick length group 20,2a 1,49a 7,78a 0,149a middle chick length group 19,6b 1,43a 7,71a 0,122b small chick length group 18,6c 1,25b 6,51b 0,120c significant difference (p<0,05) yes yes yes yes *columns with different letters are significantly different (p<0,05) Source: Roos Molenaar MSc and Inge Reijrink MSc, HatchTech Research Department
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Bursa (gr)* 0,30 0,28 0,26 no
Intestine (cm)* 92,56 92,31 88,85 no
length of the chick, whereby we measure
the length of the spine or the length of the total chick from tip of beak to tip of toe against a ruler. Hybros own research has shown a good correlation between the length of the chick and the amount of yolk free body mass. We can reasonably conclude that a chick that builds up more body tissue during incubation and is therefore larger at the moment of hatching, might be considered a more developed chick. At the end of the incubation process, the total length of the embryo (tip of beak to tip of toe) increases by approximately 1 cm per 24 hours, which also suggests that a longer, more developed embryo at moment of hatching is more mature. Our first measurements indicate that this extra development shows not only in the length of the chick, but also, for example, in length of its intestinal tract.
Influence of length As we increase our knowledge about the influence the length and development of a day old chick subsequently has on the birds performance, many questions are raised and many of the consequences are currently under investigation: Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between chick length at moment of hatch and broiler performance at six weeks of age. It has also been observed that the length of the intestinal tract increases with chick length, which may indicate a more developed gut system. The yolk contains the maternal antibodies that mother hen passes on to her offspring to protect them against the disease challenges she is experiencing. If there is a difference in utilisation of the yolk during incubation, it is feasible that a day-old chick that has not absorbed more yolk may also not
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fully develop its immune system as we
would expect. When chicks are vaccinated in-ovo, the aim is to deliver the vaccine in the amnion fluid, which is swallowed by the embryo during incubation. With insufficient development during incubation, a small, under-developed embryo will not benefit from absorption of the amnion, as the vaccine will be delivered via the allantoic membrane, which renders the vaccination ineffective. Although there is still much to learn about the effect and value of chick length, we do know that an increase in length has a positive effect on broiler performance, and that an extra centimetre in development will pay dividends in the ultimate broilers performance.
