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

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

doi:10.1016/j.psj.2022.102448

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

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

^*Corresponding author for this work

Wageningen University & Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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. 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.

Original language	English
Article number	102448
Pages (from-to)	1-13
Number of pages	13
Journal	Poultry Science
Volume	102
Issue number	3
Early online date	21 Dec 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2022.102448
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

Bibliographical 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

Keywords

hatching system
broiler chicken
eggshell temperature
welfare
resilience

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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1-s2.0-S0032579122007428-mainFinal published version, 1.76 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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

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. 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.",

keywords = "hatching system, broiler chicken, eggshell temperature, welfare, resilience",

author = "Roos Molenaar and Norbert Stockhofe-Zurwieden and Giersberg, \{Mona F\} and Rodenburg, \{T Bas\} and Bas Kemp and \{van den Brand\}, Henry and \{de Jong\}, \{Ingrid C\}",

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: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

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AU - Molenaar, Roos

AU - Stockhofe-Zurwieden, Norbert

AU - Giersberg, Mona F

AU - Rodenburg, T Bas

AU - Kemp, Bas

AU - van den Brand, Henry

AU - de Jong, Ingrid C

N1 - 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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N2 - 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. 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.

AB - 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. 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.

KW - hatching system

KW - broiler chicken

KW - eggshell temperature

KW - welfare

KW - resilience

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DO - 10.1016/j.psj.2022.102448

M3 - Article

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SP - 1

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JF - Poultry Science

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M1 - 102448

ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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