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. 2020 Apr;99(4):2176-2184.
doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2019.11.034. Epub 2020 Jan 27.

Changes to Cobb 500 chick characteristics, bone ash, and residual yolk mineral reserves during time spent in the hatcher

R L Hopcroft  1 , P J Groves  2 , W I Muir  3
Affiliations

Changes to Cobb 500 chick characteristics, bone ash, and residual yolk mineral reserves during time spent in the hatcher

R L Hopcroft et al. Poult Sci. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Previous work has identified an effect of hatch time on chick femur mineralization. This experiment assessed the impact of hatch time and a 24-h post-hatch unfed time period on chick bone mineralization and yolk mineral utilization. In early hatching chicks, yolk Mg, Zn, K, P, Fe, and Cu decreased by 40 to 50% over the 24-h post-hatch unfed time period, whereas yolk Ca and Na decreased by 25 to 40% (P = 0.026). Yolk Sr was intermediate, decreasing by 37%. Late hatching chicks which had been hatched for no more than 30 h had a higher femur bone ash percentage compared to early hatching chicks which had spent over a 30-hour sojourn unfed in the incubator (P = 0.013). These results indicate that removing chicks from the incubator within 30 h of their hatch is likely to benefit their femoral mineralization.

Keywords: bone ash; chick; hatch time; mineral; yolk.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of newly hatched chicks, every 6 h, between 468 and 516 h of incubation. HOI, hours of incubation; E, chicks hatching by 486 HOI; L, chicks hatching between 487 and 516 HOI.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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