title: Evaluation of egg injection method of pantothenic acid in turkey eggs and effect of supplemental pantothenic acid on hatchability.
abstract: Two experiments were conducted with a commercial strain cross of 120 Large White British United Turkeys of America to determine the effect of pantothenic acid egg injections and dietary pantothenic acid on hatchability. The hens were housed individually in cages in a conventional house. In Experiment 1, three dietary treatments were used: 1) an unsupplemented practical corn-soybean meal basal diet; 2) the basal diet supplemented with 37.4 mg pantothenic acid/kg; and 3) the basal diet supplemented with 74.8 mg pantothenic acid/kg. Incremental dietary supplemental pantothenic acid levels increased the transfer of pantothenic acid in eggs, but did not result in a hatchability increase over the unsupplemented pantothenic acid basal diet. The response patterns from dietary pantothenic acid for the reproductive variables were similar whether the data were analyzed on a production period basis using all of the hens or on a subset of hens producing eggs in each production period. In Experiment 2, with hens fed 37.4 mg supplemental pantothenic acid/kg of diet, hatchability did not increase in eggs injected with 1,800 micrograms pantothenic acid per egg as compared with uninjected eggs and eggs injected with the vitamin carrier solution. The results of the study indicate that hatchability was not increased in turkey eggs from hens fed supplemental pantothenic acid or with egg pantothenic acid injections, which suggests that pantothenic acid is not limiting for hatchability in commercial turkey hen diets that contain 10.5 mg/kg or more of pantothenic acid.
authors.affiliation: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Livestock and Poultry Sciences Institute, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Robel
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D002645:Chickens; D005260:Female; D007267:Injections / Q000662:veterinary; D010205:Pantothenic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010205:Pantothenic Acid