Work

The Effect of Dietary Metabolic Energy Level of ‘Woorimatdag’ Breeder on Performance, Egg Quality, Fertility and Hatchability, and Chick’s Weight

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the metabolic energy levels of Korean native chicken breeder diets on laying performance, egg quality, fertility and hatchability. On the basis of dietary metabolic energy values (2,800, 2,700, and 2,650 kcal/kg), 168 twenty-week-old ‘Woorimatdag’ breeders (maternal line) were divided into three treatment groups (four replications per treatment with each replicate containing 14 birds) and reared until 32 weeks of age. We found that the body weight of hens increased with age, although there were no significant differences among treatments with respect to body weight or egg weight. Egg production ratio at 20-24 and 24-28 weeks of age tended to be low in birds fed the 2,700 and 2,650 kcal/kg diets, although the differences among treatments were none significant. Feed intakes was significantly decreased as the metabolic energy level reduced (P<0.05). There were no significant differences among treatments with respect to feed conversion ratio or the strength and thickness of eggshell. Similarly, we detected no significant differences among the three metabolic energy levels with regards to fertility, hatchability, or chick weight. In conclusion, our findings indicate that during the initial phase of laying, the metabolic energy level of ‘Woorimatdag’ breeder diets could be lowered to 2,700 kcal/kg without significantly influencing the laying performance of breeders or egg quality, fertility and hatchability, and chick weight.

Source: Korean Journal of Poultry Science

DOI: 10.5536/kjps.2022.49.4.181