Special Issue "Transport and Early Feeding in Poultry"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Poultry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Laura Star
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Schothorst Feed Research, Poultry Expertise Center, Aeres Univerity of Applied Sciences, 8251 JZ Dronten, The Netherlands
Interests: poultry; nutrition; welfare; health; husbandry; production performance; product quality
Dr. Jasper Heerkens
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Schothorst Feed Research, Poultry Expertise Center,Aeres Univerity of Applied Sciences, 8251 JZ Dronten, The Netherlands
Interests: animal welfare; livestock husbandry; physiology
Dr. Sander Lourens
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Schothorst Feed Research, Poultry Expertise Center, Aeres Univerity of Applied Sciences, 8251 JZ Dronten, The Netherlands
Interests: poultry; nutrition; health; husbandry; production performance; product quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of optimal early life conditions for day-old chicks to sustain good health and maintain efficiency in the farm system has increasingly been recognized. Practical implementation of early nutrition is achieved through the supply of water and feed in the hatcher or by hatching the eggs on-farm. Both systems are meant to provide hatchlings with immediate access to nutrition. However, it is not yet clear what nutrients and feed form will be most beneficial for the support of day-old chicks in both systems. Moreover, farm hatching systems require the transport of incubated eggs with live embryos to the farm and to avoid the transport of chicks. In some cases, hatchery fed chicks need to be transported to the farm, and the effect of different transport durations on later performance are unclear. Transport duration, nutrition, and the interactions between access to nutrition and transport in chicks are of interest for this Special Issue.

Dr. Laura Star
Dr. Jasper Heerkens
Dr. Sander Lourens
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • day-old chicks
  • transport
  • nutrition
  • production performance
  • health
  • welfare
  • hatching
  • housing
  • broilers
  • laying hens

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Effects of Hatch Window and Nutrient Access in the Hatcher on Performance and Processing Yields of Broilers Reared with Equal Hatch Window Representation
Animals 2021, 11(5), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051228 - 23 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 485
Abstract
The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of feed and water availability in hatching baskets on broiler performance, processing yield, and organ weights while considering the influence of hatch window. Cobb 500 eggs were transferred into illuminated hatchers with two [...] Read more.
The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of feed and water availability in hatching baskets on broiler performance, processing yield, and organ weights while considering the influence of hatch window. Cobb 500 eggs were transferred into illuminated hatchers with two hatching basket types [control (CTL) hatching baskets with no nutrients provided or baskets containing feed and water (FAW)]. Chicks were pulled sequentially to establish four hatch window periods (HWP): early, pre-peak, post-peak, or late. Chicks were then held for 4 h at the hatchery without nutrient access and subsequently reared in 26 floor pens designated as CTL (n = 13) or FAW (n = 13), with 13 chicks from each of the 4 HWP per pen (52 chicks per pen). At 43 d, 16 males from each pen were processed. Chicks from FAW baskets were 1 g heavier (p < 0.001) than those from CTL baskets at placement and were heavier through 28 d (p = 0.003) but similar (p > 0.05) in body weight (BW) for the remainder of the 42 d. No differences (p > 0.05) in feed conversion ratio, mortality, or processing data were observed between CTL and FAW groups. Early-hatching chicks were lighter (p < 0.001) than those from all other HWP at placement, but were only lighter (p < 0.001) than the post-peak group by 42 d. In summary, it was found that hatching basket nutrient access increased the BW of broilers during the first 4 wk of growth, with no other effects on performance or yield. Also, earlier-hatching chicks were generally able to compensate for a lighter placement BW. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transport and Early Feeding in Poultry)
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