Effects of In Ovo Queen or Drone Larvae Injection On Sex Manipulation, Hatching Characters and Performance in Broiler Chickens

Project no. 29636 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2023

Summary

In this study, the effects of injecting queen or drone bee (Apis mellifera) larvae homogenate into broiler breeder eggs during the early embryonic period on sex manipulation, hatchability traits, chick quality, growth performance, and slaughter characteristics were investigated. In the study, 500 fertilized eggs of the Ross 308 genotype were randomly allocated to control (K), negative control (NK), drone bee larvae (EAL), and queen bee larva (AAL) groups. The in ovo injection procedures were performed at the 96th hour of incubation (day 4, stage 24) into the albumen at a dose of 1.5 mg/0.1 ml. After post-hatch incubation performance and chick quality measurements were conducted, the hatched chicks from each group were randomly allocated to five replicates and placed into pen compartments. At the end of the 41-day trial period, 6 males and 6 females were randomly selected from each group, and carcass characteristics were determined. Significant differences were found among the experimental groups in terms of hatching performance (p<0.05). Compared to the K group, the hatchability of fertile eggs significantly decreased in the EAL and NK groups. It was observed that the majority of embryonic deaths in all groups occurred in the early stage. In ovo EAL or AAL injection did not result in a significant change in the sex ratio (p>0.05). The highest male chick rate was determined in the AAL group, while the highest female chick ratio was determined in the NK group. The best results in terms of chick length and Tona score were determined in the AAL group (p<0.05). No significant differences were detected among the groups in terms of body weight, body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05). Livability significantly decreased only in NK group compared to the other experimental groups (p<0.05). The yield and the weight of carcass, breast, and leg were similar in male broilers (p>0.05). In female broiler chickens, carcass yield was determined to be significantly higher in the AAL group compared to the K and NK groups (p<0.05).In conclusion, in ovo AAL and EAL injections at the early embryonic stage were unable to ensure sex manipulation and adversely affected hatchability. However, a statistically non-significant improvement in growth performance was observed in the AAL group. Therefore, further studies would be beneficial to investigate in detail the physiological effects of AAL and EAL in early and late embryogenesis.

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