Breed Of Chicken And Frequent Short Periods Of Incubation During Different Egg Storage Periods (SPIDES) Differentially Modify The Hatchability %, Chick’s Quality And Post-Hatching Bird’s Performance

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the effect of successive short bursts of warming for 0, 5, and 10h (SPIDES) during egg storage periods (7 and 14 days) on the hatchability %, chick’s quality and post-hatching bird’s performance among two chicken breeds, Fayoumi and Avian-34. Accordingly, 6300 fertilized eggs (3150 eggs from each breed) were randomly distributed in to 2x2x3 experimental design (2 breeds, 2 storage periods, & 3 warming times) with 5 replicates/ treatment. Eggs’ warming was frequently repeated every 3 days for 0, 5, and 10h (SPIDES). The main findings indicated significant reductions of egg weights and increases of egg weight losses with the increase of egg storage and the warming times during storage. The highest egg weight losses were reported for Fayoumi’s eggs stored for 7- or 14-days and exposed to frequent SPIDES for 10h as well as Avian-34’s eggs stored for 7-days and warmed for 10h. Marked improvements of hatchability % in both Fayoumi, and Avian-34 breeds were recorded following the exposure to frequent SPIDES for 0 and 5h. Additionally, distinct enhancements of post-hatching performance were reported. Chicks hatched from eggs stored for longer periods and exposed to SPIDES possessed less post-hatching weights (W0) in Avian-34 and Fayoumi compared to those directly incubated without warming during storage. However, those chicks succeeded to attain significant heavier body weights at 35 days old. The best post-hatching growth performance was reported for chicks hatched from eggs exposed to 5h of successive warming every three days during storage.