The effects of transport of 18-day old hatching eggs on physiology and behaviour of slow growing broiler chicken

Rebecca Nordquist; Hans Vernooij; Celeste Dull; Ashley  Pascual; G. van der Linde; Vivian Goerlich

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105789

The effects of transport of 18-day old hatching eggs on physiology and behaviour of slow growing broiler chicken

Rebecca Nordquist^*, Hans Vernooij, Celeste Dull, Ashley Pascual, G. van der Linde, Vivian Goerlich

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

Incubation and hatching commonly takes places at hatcheries, separate from the grow-out facilities where broiler
chicks are raised. This means that chicks are sorted and transported immediately after hatch, during which time
they typically do not have access to feed and water, and are subjected to transport stress. Recently, innovative
housing systems are being developed in which fertilised eggs are transported on embryonic day 18 (E18) from
the hatchery to the grow-out facility, where they hatch on day 21. In chicken, the hypothalamic–
pituitary–adrenal (HPA)-axis becomes functional around embryonic day 14–16. It is therefore conceivable
that transport of eggs at E18 may lead to a stress response in the chick embryo. Exposure to prenatal stress may
affect the coping capacity of the individual and negatively impact its further development. We investigated
whether prolonged transport on E18 has effects on the development of a slow growing broiler chicken strain
(Hubbard JA257). E18 eggs were transported for either 41 min (short transport, ST) or 219 min (long transport,
LT). Transportation significantly increased embryonic heart rate after ST. This increase continued during an
intermediate measure at 120 min. The increased embryonic HR then remained high at measurement immediately
following LT. We did not find effects of prolonged transport on behavioural parameters measured in the juvenile
chicken in the tonic immobility and open field test. Concentrations of feather corticosterone as well as faecal
corticosterone metabolites did not differ on postnatal day 36. We showed that transport leads to an autonomic
stress response in chicken embryos at E18, but that this elevation had no further effects on other indicators of
prenatal stress. Nevertheless, our results emphasise that transport of incubated eggs should be as refined as
possible to minimise the exposure to stress.

Original language	English
Article number	105789
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Journal	Applied Animal Behaviour Science
Volume	257
Early online date	9 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105789
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Dr. J.L. Dobberke Foundation for Comparative Psychology (Grant number KNAWWF/DA/3211/08).

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge support from Marius Dwars for monitoring the health of the chickens; Mona Giersberg for aid with the health scoring; Marijke Achterberg for support with behaviour observations and Melissa de Jong for help with analysing the open field data; Susanne Kirchhoff and Judith Hendriks for support with the lab procedures; and Wim Brenk and Patricia Gadella for animal care.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

Keywords

Glucocorticoid
In ovo
Non-invasive monitoring
Poultry
Stress
Welfare

Access to Document

10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105789Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S0168159122002490-mainFinal published version, 949 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{7010424bc4eb4e229d793c40a979738f,

title = "The effects of transport of 18-day old hatching eggs on physiology and behaviour of slow growing broiler chicken",

abstract = "Incubation and hatching commonly takes places at hatcheries, separate from the grow-out facilities where broilerchicks are raised. This means that chicks are sorted and transported immediately after hatch, during which timethey typically do not have access to feed and water, and are subjected to transport stress. Recently, innovativehousing systems are being developed in which fertilised eggs are transported on embryonic day 18 (E18) fromthe hatchery to the grow-out facility, where they hatch on day 21. In chicken, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA)-axis becomes functional around embryonic day 14–16. It is therefore conceivablethat transport of eggs at E18 may lead to a stress response in the chick embryo. Exposure to prenatal stress mayaffect the coping capacity of the individual and negatively impact its further development. We investigatedwhether prolonged transport on E18 has effects on the development of a slow growing broiler chicken strain(Hubbard JA257). E18 eggs were transported for either 41 min (short transport, ST) or 219 min (long transport,LT). Transportation significantly increased embryonic heart rate after ST. This increase continued during anintermediate measure at 120 min. The increased embryonic HR then remained high at measurement immediatelyfollowing LT. We did not find effects of prolonged transport on behavioural parameters measured in the juvenilechicken in the tonic immobility and open field test. Concentrations of feather corticosterone as well as faecalcorticosterone metabolites did not differ on postnatal day 36. We showed that transport leads to an autonomicstress response in chicken embryos at E18, but that this elevation had no further effects on other indicators ofprenatal stress. Nevertheless, our results emphasise that transport of incubated eggs should be as refined aspossible to minimise the exposure to stress.",

keywords = "Glucocorticoid, In ovo, Non-invasive monitoring, Poultry, Stress, Welfare",

author = "Rebecca Nordquist and Hans Vernooij and Celeste Dull and Ashley Pascual and {van der Linde}, G. and Vivian Goerlich",

note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the Dr. J.L. Dobberke Foundation for Comparative Psychology (Grant number KNAWWF/DA/3211/08). Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge support from Marius Dwars for monitoring the health of the chickens; Mona Giersberg for aid with the health scoring; Marijke Achterberg for support with behaviour observations and Melissa de Jong for help with analysing the open field data; Susanne Kirchhoff and Judith Hendriks for support with the lab procedures; and Wim Brenk and Patricia Gadella for animal care. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105789",

language = "English",

volume = "257",

pages = "1--10",

journal = "Applied Animal Behaviour Science",

issn = "0168-1591",

publisher = "Elsevier BV",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The effects of transport of 18-day old hatching eggs on physiology and behaviour of slow growing broiler chicken

AU - Nordquist, Rebecca

AU - Vernooij, Hans

AU - Dull, Celeste

AU - Pascual, Ashley

AU - van der Linde, G.

AU - Goerlich, Vivian

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Dr. J.L. Dobberke Foundation for Comparative Psychology (Grant number KNAWWF/DA/3211/08). Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge support from Marius Dwars for monitoring the health of the chickens; Mona Giersberg for aid with the health scoring; Marijke Achterberg for support with behaviour observations and Melissa de Jong for help with analysing the open field data; Susanne Kirchhoff and Judith Hendriks for support with the lab procedures; and Wim Brenk and Patricia Gadella for animal care. Publisher Copyright: © 2022

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Incubation and hatching commonly takes places at hatcheries, separate from the grow-out facilities where broilerchicks are raised. This means that chicks are sorted and transported immediately after hatch, during which timethey typically do not have access to feed and water, and are subjected to transport stress. Recently, innovativehousing systems are being developed in which fertilised eggs are transported on embryonic day 18 (E18) fromthe hatchery to the grow-out facility, where they hatch on day 21. In chicken, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA)-axis becomes functional around embryonic day 14–16. It is therefore conceivablethat transport of eggs at E18 may lead to a stress response in the chick embryo. Exposure to prenatal stress mayaffect the coping capacity of the individual and negatively impact its further development. We investigatedwhether prolonged transport on E18 has effects on the development of a slow growing broiler chicken strain(Hubbard JA257). E18 eggs were transported for either 41 min (short transport, ST) or 219 min (long transport,LT). Transportation significantly increased embryonic heart rate after ST. This increase continued during anintermediate measure at 120 min. The increased embryonic HR then remained high at measurement immediatelyfollowing LT. We did not find effects of prolonged transport on behavioural parameters measured in the juvenilechicken in the tonic immobility and open field test. Concentrations of feather corticosterone as well as faecalcorticosterone metabolites did not differ on postnatal day 36. We showed that transport leads to an autonomicstress response in chicken embryos at E18, but that this elevation had no further effects on other indicators ofprenatal stress. Nevertheless, our results emphasise that transport of incubated eggs should be as refined aspossible to minimise the exposure to stress.

AB - Incubation and hatching commonly takes places at hatcheries, separate from the grow-out facilities where broilerchicks are raised. This means that chicks are sorted and transported immediately after hatch, during which timethey typically do not have access to feed and water, and are subjected to transport stress. Recently, innovativehousing systems are being developed in which fertilised eggs are transported on embryonic day 18 (E18) fromthe hatchery to the grow-out facility, where they hatch on day 21. In chicken, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA)-axis becomes functional around embryonic day 14–16. It is therefore conceivablethat transport of eggs at E18 may lead to a stress response in the chick embryo. Exposure to prenatal stress mayaffect the coping capacity of the individual and negatively impact its further development. We investigatedwhether prolonged transport on E18 has effects on the development of a slow growing broiler chicken strain(Hubbard JA257). E18 eggs were transported for either 41 min (short transport, ST) or 219 min (long transport,LT). Transportation significantly increased embryonic heart rate after ST. This increase continued during anintermediate measure at 120 min. The increased embryonic HR then remained high at measurement immediatelyfollowing LT. We did not find effects of prolonged transport on behavioural parameters measured in the juvenilechicken in the tonic immobility and open field test. Concentrations of feather corticosterone as well as faecalcorticosterone metabolites did not differ on postnatal day 36. We showed that transport leads to an autonomicstress response in chicken embryos at E18, but that this elevation had no further effects on other indicators ofprenatal stress. Nevertheless, our results emphasise that transport of incubated eggs should be as refined aspossible to minimise the exposure to stress.

KW - Glucocorticoid

KW - In ovo

KW - Non-invasive monitoring

KW - Poultry

KW - Stress

KW - Welfare

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141806744&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105789

DO - 10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105789

M3 - Article

SN - 0168-1591

VL - 257

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Applied Animal Behaviour Science

JF - Applied Animal Behaviour Science

M1 - 105789

ER -

The effects of transport of 18-day old hatching eggs on physiology and behaviour of slow growing broiler chicken

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this