2024-07-31 21:46:48
Mary Anne Amalaradjou, associate professor of animal science in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, found that using a probiotic spray on eggs improves the number and quality of chicks that successfully hatch.
Amalaradjou patented a method of spraying eggs with probiotics that has been shown to improve embryonic development and post-hatch growth of chicks raised for broiler production. This method improves chick health without relying on antibiotics, which are increasingly banned due to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a threat to human and animal health.
In his latest study, Amalaradjou wanted to look at the hatching stage itself.
“We never looked at the middle window of the actual hatching process, so in this study we decided to focus on that,” says Amalaradjou.
This is especially relevant as there has recently been a drop in hatchability, defined as how many chicks successfully hatch from the group of eggs laid in an incubator. Scientists do not yet know what could be responsible for this drop.
Amalaradjou observed that when eggs were sprayed with probiotics, there was an increase in hatchability of about 5%. The hatchlings were also healthier and more active.
Amalaradjou and his team scored the chicks on qualitative criteria used by the industry. These criteria include how quickly a chick can stand up after being turned on its back; whether its naval is fully sealed; whether its eyes are open and active; having well-formed legs; inflammation at the hock joint, which the chick uses to crack open the egg; and whether it has ingested too much egg yolk before hatching.
“They all had very good results,” says Amalaradjou. “There was a significant difference in the quality of the chicks in the probiotic group compared to the control.”
Following this study, Amalaradjou and his group will simulate the transport process to see how chicks from eggs treated with the probiotic spray fare.
Once hatched, chicks raised for broiler production are transported to a farm where they grow up. This transport is often long distances and the chicks must endure it without food.
“The hatching process itself is very stressful,” Amalaradjou says. “They have to expend all their energy to get out of the shell and then they don’t have food for 48 to 72 hours.”
If the chicks are weak when they hatch, there is a high chance that they will die during or shortly after transfer. Amalaradjou hypothesizes that the probiotic spray will give them an advantage in surviving this stressful event, as these chicks have proven to be healthier than those in the control group at all other stages. Amalaradjou will also observe how these chicks grow after transport.
“We want to determine whether the improvement we see actually translates into a reduction in mortality for the birds,” says Amalaradjou. “And then we want to see what happens to them as they grow: do they produce more muscle, more meat? That’s the next step because, at the end of the day, in the case of broilers, what matters is how much meat the birds can produce.”
More information: Mairui Gao et al, In ovo probiotic supplementation promotes hatchability and improves broiler quality, Poultry Science (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103624