title: Relationship of time of feeding and strain to egg shell quality and hatchability in broiler breeders.
abstract: The relationship of feeding time to egg production, egg weight, egg shell quality, fertility, and hatchability was examined in two trials. Slow and fast-feathering strain Hubbard females were used in Trial 1 and slow-feathering strain Arbor Acres females were used in Trial 2. Feeding times of 0800 or 1300 h throughout the laying periods were compared. Slow feathering females in Trial 1 exhibited significantly increased egg weight and significantly decreased percentage shell when compared with fast-feathering females. Feeding at 1300 h increased significantly egg specific gravity, egg shell weight, and percentage shell in Trials 1 and 2. Significant interactions of feeding time and strain occurred in Trial 1 with respect to fertility and hatch of all eggs set. Feeding at 1300 h increased fertility and hatch of all eggs set in fast-feathering hens but the opposite occurred in slow-feathering hens in Trials 1 and 2. Within slow-feathering hens, hatch of fertile eggs was decreased by 1.7% (Trial 1) and 1.5% (Trial 2). The results show that afternoon feeding that provides calcium intake near the time of egg shell calcification decreased significantly hatchability in eggs from two slow-feathering strains of females but not in eggs from a fast-feathering strain. These results suggest that altering time of feed intake can decrease hatchability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7608.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brake
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D004528:Egg Shell; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D013997:Time Factors