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*Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
T6G2P5; and †Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces 88003-8003
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to deter- eggs had a specific gravity lower than 1.080, the com-
mine the effects of flock age and egg weight on hatching mercial set value. Eggs from the young flock age had
2735
2736 Ulmer-Franco et al.
egg weight and chick weight at hatching has been re- and the H eggs were 3.0 to 6.0 g heavier than the aver-
ported (Wiley, 1950). Even though egg weight at set- age egg.
ting determines chick weight at hatching, controversy
exists concerning the accuracy of day-old chick weight Egg Characteristics
as a predictor of posthatch performance and market
BW. Some authors have found chick weight to be an For each flock age, 30 eggs were randomly selected for
accurate predictor of final BW (Proudfoot and Hulan, each of the weight categories. Specific gravity (SG) was
1981; Sklan et al., 2003), whereas for others, this has assessed by the flotation method (Bennett, 1992). Eggs
not been the case (Gardiner, 1973; Shanawany, 1987). were then weighed and broken open, and wet eggshell
Old breeder flocks produce a greater number of heavier and wet yolk weights were recorded. Albumen weight
chicks as a result of increased egg weight (Suarez et was calculated by subtracting wet yolk and wet shell
al., 1997; O’Dea et al., 2004). However, the percentage weights from the total egg weight. The eggshells and
of chicks with low quality scores was reported to be yolks were dried at 65°C for 3 d in a Despatch V Series
Flock age
29 wk 90 53.8b 1.069b 63.3a 27.8b 13.9b 8.8
59 wk 90 71.3a 1.075a 58.5b 31.3a 16.7a 8.6
SEM 0.1 0.001 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1
Egg weight2
Light (L) 60 58.3c 1.071b 60.5b 30.0a 15.6 8.6
Average (A) 60 62.6b 1.073a 60.7b 29.7ab 15.3 8.8
Heavy (H) 60 66.8a 1.072a 61.6a 29.1b 15.1 8.7
SEM 0.1 0.001 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1
Age × egg weight
29 wk × L 30 49.8f 1.066c 63.0 28.5 14.4 8.5b
53.6e 1.071b 9.0a
SG. It was expected that SG values would be related to likelihood of reduced ventilation in the setter was low
shell percentage (i.e., that eggs with a high shell per- because the number of eggs set at each flock age was
centage would have a high SG); however, this was not below the capacity of the setter and hatcher.
the case in this experiment. Dry shell percentage was Egg Weight. The percentage of egg weight loss at
greater in A eggs laid by young hens than in all other transfer decreased as egg size increased (Table 2). Be-
egg groups. Overall, these results question the accuracy cause of the increased surface-to-volume ratio in L eggs
and reliability of SG as a method for determining shell (inferred from egg size), it was not surprising to observe
quality. that the L eggs lost the highest percentage of moisture.
These results could also be related back to the above-
Fertility, Hatchability, and Salable mentioned finding that H eggs had a greater proportion
Chick Production of albumen (and thus greater moisture content) than L
eggs. Late embryonic mortality increased as egg weight
Flock Age. Fertility was significantly lower at 29 increased. The highest late embryonic mortality in H vs.
wk than at 59 wk of age (Table 2). Previous research L eggs is in agreement with that reported by Lawrence
has reported a reduction in fertility as breeder flocks et al. (2004). These authors analyzed the effect of egg
age (Elibol et al., 2002; Zakaria et al., 2005). Because size on the hatchability of a 43-wk-old Cobb 500 flock
feed and breeder management can influence fertility and reported low hatchability in eggs that were larger
and these parameters were not included in the experi- than the average egg. This was a consequence of both
mental design, comparison of results from the present high late embryo mortality and culled chicks (Lawrence
study with previous research may not be applicable. et al., 2004). Fertility, hatchability of fertile eggs, early
Eggs laid by the young hens also had a greater percent- and mid embryonic mortality, and percentage of culled
age of weight loss at transfer than eggs from the old chicks at hatching were not affected by egg weight.
hens. Flock age did not affect hatchability of fertile Flock Age and Egg Weight Interaction. The
eggs, embryonic death, or percentage of culled chicks at only parameter affected by the interaction of egg flock
hatching. The present results are different from those age and egg weight was percentage of culled chicks at
reported by Tona et al. (2001). In a continuous study of hatching (Table 2). The lowest number of culled chicks
a Cobb broiler breeder flock (from 27 to 60 wk of age), was observed in the L and A eggs from the young flock
Tona et al. (2001) reported the highest total hatch- age (the smallest in egg weight). The number of culled
ability and the lowest total embryo mortality at 40 wk chicks from the H eggs at 59 wk (the largest in egg
of age. The lowest hatchability and highest rates of weight) did not differ from any of the other egg groups.
embryo mortality were observed toward the end of the Tona et al. (2004) reported a higher percentage of high-
study at older flock ages (Tona et al., 2001). The au- quality chicks in young vs. old flocks. Even though Tona
thors hypothesized that these results might have been et al. (2004) did not report percentage of culled chicks,
due to a combined effect of high embryonic heat pro- these 2 findings together support the concept that chick
duction and lower than optimal ventilation in the setter quality should not be affected in chicks hatching from
because of increased egg size. In the present study, the young breeders (not even in the smallest chicks). These
FLOCK AGE, EGG WEIGHT, AND BROILER CHICK QUALITY 2739
birds would likely have the same strength and potential prolonged posthatch holding time decreases chick BW
of chicks hatching from older breeders and larger eggs. (Pinchasov and Noy, 1993; Sklan et al., 2000), and that
this early reduction in BW is still significant at 21 d
External Pipping and Hatching Time of age (Sklan et al., 2000). This should be taken into
account when determining the appropriate time to pull
Flock Age. Chicks from the young flock pipped and the hatch and thus avoid dehydration of chicks from old
hatched later than chicks from the old flock (Table 3). hens or removal of wet chicks from young hens.
This agrees with the results of Hudson et al. (2004) Egg Weight. Chicks from L eggs pipped and hatched
and Hamidu et al. (2007), who also reported delayed earlier than chicks from A of H eggs. These results agree
hatching in chicks from 29-wk-old hens. This prolonged with those reported by Wilson (1991) and Kumpula
incubation length could be related to the lower em- and Fasenko (2004) and confirm earlier studies (Rahn
bryonic metabolism in young vs. older flocks reported and Ar, 1974).
by Hamidu et al. (2007). Hudson et al. (2004) showed In summary, regardless of flock age, L eggs hatched
Table 2. Effects of 2 breeder flock ages, 3 egg weights, and their interaction on fertility, hatchability, egg weight loss, embryonic
mortality, and culled chicks in a commercial Cobb 500 broiler breeder flock
Fertility2 Weight loss3 Hatch of fertile4 Early dead5 Mid dead6 Late dead7 Culls8
Item n1 (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Flock age
29 wk 63 76.7b 12.8a 88.0 4.8 0.6 5.2 1.2
59 wk 63 94.4a 11.9b 87.0 4.0 0.8 4.6 2.0
SEM 1.0 0.1 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.7 0.4
Egg weight9
Light (L) 42 84.2 12.7a 88.3 5.6 0.6 2.8c 1.3
Average (A) 42 85.1 12.3b 89.9 3.0 0.8 4.8b 1.2
Heavy (H) 42 87.5 11.9c 84.3 4.6 0.8 7.0a 2.4
SEM 1.2 0.1 1.4 0.8 0.4 0.9 0.4
Age × egg weight
29 wk × L 21 74.4 13.1 90.2 6.2 0.5 2.4 0.3b
29 wk × A 21 75.7 12.7 90.7 3.5 1.1 4.6 0.3b
29 wk × H 21 80.2 12.3 83.1 4.8 0.3 8.7 3.2a
59 wk × L 21 94.0 12.3 86.3 5.1 0.7 3.2 2.3a
59 wk × A 21 94.4 11.9 89.1 2.6 0.5 5.1 2.1a
59 wk × H 21 94.9 11.5 85.6 4.4 1.4 5.3 1.6ab
SEM 1.6 0.1 2.0 1.0 0.5 1.2 0.7
a–cMeans within a column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (P ≤ 0.05).
1Number of experimental units; each experimental unit = 1 group of 18 eggs.
2Fertility (%) = (number of fertile eggs/number of eggs set) × 100.
3Weight loss at 18 d of incubation (%) = [(egg weight at setting − egg weight at transfer)/egg weight at setting] × 100.
4Hatch of fertile (%) = (number of salable chicks hatched/number of fertile eggs set) × 100.
5Early dead (%) = (number of embryos that died between 1 and 7 d of incubation/total number of eggs set) × 100.
6Mid dead (%) = (number of embryos that died between 8 and 14 d of incubation/total number of eggs set) × 100.
7Late dead (%) = (number of embryos that died between 15 and 21 d of incubation/total number of eggs set) × 100.
8Culls (%) = (number of nonsalable chicks culled at hatching/total number of eggs set) × 100.
9L = light (3.0 to 6.0 g lighter than the average egg weight); A = average (±1.5 g from the average egg weight); H = heavy (3.0 to 6.0 g heavier
than the average egg weight).
2740 Ulmer-Franco et al.
Table 3. Pipping and hatching times in a commercial Cobb 500 ers remains an unexplored hypothesis. No significant
broiler breeder flock at 2 flock ages and from 3 egg sizes differences were found in early, late, or overall FCR
Pipping Hatching between broilers hatched at the different breeder flock
Item n1 time2 (h) time3 (h) ages (Table 5). This means that, regardless of breeder
Flock age flock age, Cobb broilers had the same FCR potential,
29 wk 54 494.4a 503.8a and that the lighter final BW was a consequence of
59 wk 54 490.2b 500.4b low feed consumption by small chicks. These results
SEM 1.2 1.0
Egg weight4 disagree with those of Hulet et al. (2007). Using a com-
Light 36 488.9b 498.0b mercial Cobb flock, Hulet et al. (2007) compared the
Average 36 493.7a 503.3a cumulative FCR (up to 44 d of age) of chicks hatch-
Heavy 36 494.3a 505.0a
SEM 1.3 1.0 ing from old (57 wk) vs. young (29 wk) breeder flocks.
a,bMeans within a column lacking a common superscript differ signifi-
Even though the largest chicks (those hatching from
cantly (P ≤ 0.05).
the old flock) were heavier throughout production,
Table 4. Effects of 2 breeder flock ages, 3 egg sizes, and their interaction on average broiler BW and BW gains in a commercial Cobb
500 flock
Chick BW1 21-d BW 41-d BW Early BW Late BW Overall BW
Item (g) (g) (g) gain2 (g) gain3 (g) gain4 (g)
Flock age
29 wk 37.3b (714)5 716.9b (686) 2,411.1b (665) 680.0b 1,699.2 2,373.8b
59 wk 48.9a (714) 825.2a (692) 2,505.9a (678) 776.4a 1,678.0 2,457.3a
SEM 0.1 4.2 15.5 4.2 13.4 15.6
Egg weight6
Light (L) 39.9c (476) 760.8b (461) 2,412.6b (448) 722.4 1,654.7b 2,374.6b
Average (A) b
43.0 (476) 767.6b (461) 2,490.6ab (447) 724.5 1,720.8a 2,447.8a
Heavy (H) 46.5a (476) 784.7a (456) 2,472.3a (448) 737.7 1,690.3ab 2,423.1a
SEM 0.1 5.2 19.0 5.2 16.4 19.2
Age × weight
29 wk × L 34.1f (238) 697.1 (229) 2,346.4 (221) 665.0 1,654.4 2,316.1
29 wk × A 37.0e (238) 715.8 (230) 2,458.7 (221) 678.8 1,744.2 2,421.3
29 wk × H 40.1d (238) 737.7 (227) 2,428.1 (223) 696.6 1,698.8 2,381.9
59 wk × L 45.6c (238) 824.5 (232) 2,478.8 (227) 778.9 1,654.9 2,433.2
59 wk × A 48.9b (238) 819.5 (231) 2,522.5 (226) 770.7 1,697.3 2,474.6
59 wk × H 52.1a (238) 831.6 (229) 2,516.4 (225) 779.5 1,681.8 2,464.3
SEM 0.1 7.4 27.0 7.4 23.3 27.0
a–fMeans within a column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (P ≤ 0.05).
1BW at hatching.
2Early BW gain = 21 d BW − chick BW. Same number of experimental units as early BW.
3Late BW gain = 41 d BW − 21 d BW. Same number of experimental units as final BW.
4Overall BW gain = 41 d BW − chick BW. Same number of experimental units as final BW.
5(n) = number of experimental units; each experimental unit = 1 individual broiler.
6L = light (3.0 to 6.0 g lighter than the average egg weight); A = average (±1.5 g from the average egg weight); H = heavy (3.0 to 6.0 g heavier
than the average egg weight).
FLOCK AGE, EGG WEIGHT, AND BROILER CHICK QUALITY 2741
Table 5. Effects or 2 breeder flock ages and 3 egg sizes on early, late, and total feed consumption and feed conversion ratio (FCR)
in commercial Cobb 500 broilers
Early feed Late feed Total feed Total
consumption2 Early FCR3 consumption4 Late FCR5 consumption6 FCR7
Item n1 (g/bird) (g/g) (g/bird) (g/g) (g/bird) (g/g)
Flock age
29 wk 6 958.9b 1.41 3,107.2 1.84 4,071.4 1.71
59 wk 6 1,099.7a 1.41 3,115.6 1.86 4,212.0 1.71
SEM 15.4 0.01 51.4 0.02 60.3 0.01
Egg weight8
Light 4 1,024.2 1.41 3,060.0 1.86 4,079.2 1.72
Average 4 1,030.7 1.42 3,154.3 1.84 4,185.1 1.71
Heavy 4 1,031.6 1.40 3,119.8 1.86 4,160.8 1.72
SEM 19.0 0.01 62.2 0.03 72.4 0.02
a,bMeans within a column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (P ≤ 0.05).
enough difference to affect final BW. Chick weight was of equal chick quality at hatching, but they had lower
not an accurate predictor of final BW, as had been pre- final BW than the offspring of the breeder flock at an
viously reported (Gardiner, 1973; Shanawany, 1987). older age. All chicks were reared in separate groups ac-
Egg weight did not affect feed consumption or FCR cording to egg weight and flock age; thus, competition
parameters (Table 5). between small and large chicks was avoided. In addi-
Flock Age and Egg Weight Interaction. The tion, the chicks were reared under the same conditions
only broiler performance parameter affected by the and fed the same feed. It could be concluded that, when
interaction was chick weight at hatching (Table 4). reared under the same conditions, chicks produced at
Chick weight followed the same pattern as egg weight a young breeder age (when eggs with smaller yolks are
at setting. Thus, L eggs produced by the young flock produced) could be at a disadvantage when compared
hatched the lightest chicks and H eggs produced by the with chicks produced at older breeder ages (when eggs
old flock hatched the heaviest chicks. This result was with larger yolks are produced). Further research de-
expected because a strong positive correlation between termining the ideal rearing conditions for chicks from
egg weight and chick weight has long been reported young breeders is advised. Cobb 500 is a strain com-
(McNaughton et al., 1978). Broiler mortality was not monly used for broiler production in Canada; because of
affected by the main effects of flock age and egg weight the normal egg production cycle, at any given moment
or by their interaction (data not shown). chicken producers would likely manage broiler chicks
from young breeder flocks. This research provided basic
Conclusions information that could be useful when making decisions
for broiler chick management.
It is known that during incubation, when the embryo
is enclosed in the egg, the yolk content (more specifi- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
cally, the lipids contained in it) is the main source of
energy for embryonic development (Romanoff, 1960). The authors acknowledge the financial support of this
Over the first few days posthatch, the remaining con- research by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Re-
tent of the yolk sac provides the newly hatched chicks search Council of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada),
with energy for growth and development of the small Canadian Hatching Egg Producers (Ottawa, Ontario,
intestine (Noy and Sklan, 1999). Furthermore, a direct Canada), Alberta Chicken Producers (Edmonton, Al-
positive correlation between the nutrient content of berta, Canada), Alberta Livestock Industry Develop-
the yolk sac and the subsequent performance of broil- ment Fund (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), and Alberta
ers has been reported (Murakami et al., 1992; Vieira Innovation and Science (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).
and Moran, 1999). In the present study, eggs laid by The donation of hatching eggs from Maple Leaf Hatch-
a 29-wk-old broiler breeder flock had a smaller pro- ery (Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada) is greatly appreci-
portion of yolk than those laid at 59 wk of age. The ated. The authors also thank M. MacKenzie (Depart-
offspring produced by this young breeder flock were ment of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science,
2742 Ulmer-Franco et al.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), J. Peebles, E. D., C. W. Gardner, J. Brake, C. E. Benton, J. J. Bru-
Hamidu (Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutri- zual, and P. D. Gerard. 2000. Albumen height and yolk and em-
bryo compositions in broiler hatching eggs during incubation.
tional Science, University of Alberta), and the staff and Poult. Sci. 79:1373–1377.
students of the University of Alberta Poultry Research Pinchasov, Y., and Y. Noy. 1993. Comparison of post-hatch hold-
Centre for their technical assistance. We are indebted ing time and subsequent early performance of broiler chicks and
turkey poults. Br. Poult. Sci. 34:111–120.
to R. Meijerhof (Poultry Performance Plus, Voorst, the
Proudfoot, F. G., and H. W. Hulan. 1981. The influence of hatch-
Netherlands) for his contribution to this research. ing egg size on the subsequent performance of broiler chickens.
Poult. Sci. 60:2167–2170.
Rahn, H., and A. Ar. 1974. The avian egg: Incubation time and
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