Effects of hatching system on chick quality, welfare and health of young breeder flock offspring

Molenaar, Roos; Stockhofe-Zurwieden, Norbert; Giersberg, Mona F; Rodenburg, T Bas; Kemp, Bas; van den Brand, Henry; de Jong, Ingrid C

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2022.102448

Effects of hatching system on chick quality, welfare and health of young breeder flock offspring

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Effects of hatching system on chick quality, welfare and health of young breeder flock offspring

Molenaar, Roos; Stockhofe-Zurwieden, Norbert; Giersberg, Mona F; Rodenburg, T Bas; Kemp, Bas; van den Brand, Henry; de Jong, Ingrid C

(2023) Poultry Science, volume 102, issue 3, pp. 1 - 13

(Article)

Abstract

Alternative hatching systems have been developed for broiler chickens to provide immediately feed and water after hatch and reduce the number or severity of early life stressors. Besides beneficial effects of these alternative hatching systems on chick quality and performance, broiler health and welfare may be positively affected as well. ... read more Especially offspring from young broiler breeder flocks may benefit, as they have been shown to be more sensitive to preturbations than offspring from older breeder flocks. This study evaluated effects of hatching systems on chick quality, health and welfare of young breeder flock offspring, using 3 different hatching systems: conventional hatchery-hatched (HH), hatchery-fed (HF), and on-farm hatching (OH). A total of 24 pens were used in a completely randomized block design, with 8 pens per hatching system and 30 chickens per pen. Chick quality at hatch and performance until 35 d of age was improved in the HF and OH compared to HH treatment, but only minor effects were found on the welfare indicators: footpad dermatitis, hock burn, cleanliness, skin lesion and gait score. No effect was observed on the dynamics of a humoral immune response after NCD vaccination, given at d 0 and 14 of age, as no differences between NCD titers were found at d 18. Animals were vaccinated with a live attenuated infectious bronchitis vaccine virus (IBV) at d 28 to address treatment related differences to disease resilience. The expressions of inflammation and epithelial integrity related genes in the trachea and histo-pathological changes in the trachea were examined at 3 d after vaccine administration. No differences between treatment groups were observed. Although beneficial effects of HF and OH systems were found for young breeder flock offspring on chick quality at hatch and body weight posthatch, only one effect of alternative hatching systems on welfare and health indicators were found. No effect of hatching system on humoral immune response or disease resilience was found.

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Keywords: hatching system, broiler chicken, eggshell temperature, welfare, resilience

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2022.102448

ISSN: 0032-5791

Publisher: Poultry Science Association

Note: Funding Information: This research was part of the EU-China HealthyLivestock project. The authors wish to acknowledge that HealthyLivestock is funded by the European Union H2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 773436 . The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Funding Information: This research was part of the EU-China HealthyLivestock project. The authors wish to acknowledge that HealthyLivestock is funded by the European Union H2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 773436. The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. We want to thank the personnel of HatchTech, Lagerwey, Probroed, and the Vencomatic Group with their assistance and advice during the experiment. We want to thank Henk Gunnink of Wageningen Livestock Research, Ilona van den Anker and Joop Arts of Wageningen University and Research, our student Rianne Planje, and the animal caretakers of the research facility for their assistance during the experiment. A special thanks to Lisette Ruuls and Katrin Wiese for their assistance with the analysis and interpretation of the gene expression data. The authors listed on this paper declare no conflicts of interest. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

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