Impact of growth curve and dietary energy-to-protein ratio of broiler breeders on egg quality and egg composition.

ABSTRACT: Egg characteristics have an impact on embryonic development and post-hatch performance of broilers. The impact of growth curve (GC) and dietary energy-to-protein ratio of broiler breeder hens on egg characteristics was investigated. At hatch, 1,536 pullets were randomly allotted to 24 pens in a 2 × 4 factorial dose-response design with 2 GC (standard growth curve = SGC or elevated growth curve = EGC (+ 15%)) and 4 diets, differing in energy-to-protein ratio (defined as 96%, 100%, 104% and 108% AME_n diet). Feed allocation per treatment was adapted weekly to achieve the targeted GC and to achieve pair-gain of breeders within each GC. Breeders on an EGC produced larger eggs (∆ = 2.3 g; P < 0.001) compared to breeders on a SGC. An exponential regression curve, with age (wk) of the b

SUBMITTER: Heijmans J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9168161 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature