A study of incubation parameters in six breeds of local chickens

Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 38 A STUDY OF INCUBATION PARAMETERS IN SIX BREEDS OF LOCAL CHICKENS Do Ngoc Ha1, Hoang Thi Bich, Nguyen Thi Huong, Khuong Van Nam Received: 17 May 2016 / Accepted: 10 October 2017 / Published: November 2017 ©Hong Duc University (HDU) and Hong Duc University Journal of Science Abstract: In this study, we investigated the differences of incubation parameters traits in six breeds of Taiwanese chickens: Hua-Tung (HT), Hsin-Yi (HY), Ju-Chi (JC), Shek-Ki (SK), Nagoya (NG) and Quemoy (KM) breeds. The incubation traits, including loss of egg weight during storage (storeloss), 18 days in the setter (inculoss), 21 days of incubation (hatchloss), time to hatch, and hatchability were tested for the effect of breed, egg weight and storage period. The results showed that eggs weight, chick weight, and storeloss (%) in Generation 1 were higher than Generation 2, whereas, inculoss (%), hatchloss (%), and hatchability in Generation 2 were higher than Generation 1. The highest inculoss (%) and hatchloss (%) were found in Quemoy, while the lowest was Shek-Ki. The longest hatchtime was found in Quemoy and the shortest was Ju-Chi. The highest hatchability was found in Hua-Tung breed, while the lowest was Shek-Ki breed. Heritabilities estimated from regression of Generation 2 to Generation 1 were very high for egg weight and hatchtime while storeloss was nil. Furthermore, long egg storage time increases egg weight loss and incubation duration (hatch time), but reduces hatchability. When eggs were stored for one more day, egg weight loss increased 0.03 % during storage period, 0.03% during 18 days in the setter, and 0.07% for entire incubation period, increased the hatch time by 0.73 hr, but reduced hatchability by about 0.03%. Keywords: Egg weight loss, incubation, hatchability. 1. Introduction The fate of chicks largely depends on the quality of hatching eggs. Various breeding practices and handling of eggs from egg laying to hatching, particularly pre-incubation storage condition, and incubation parameters have affected hatchability and quality of day old chicks (Tona et al., 2001). Hatching eggs are collected at breeding farm, stored for some time there, or directly transferred to the hatchery. Here, these are stored for a certain limit of time under Do Ngoc Ha, Hoang Thi Bich, Khuong Van Nam, Nguyen Thi Huong Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, Hong Duc University Email: Dongocha.tx36@gmaij.com () Hoangthibich@hdu.edu.vn () Khuongvannam@hdu.edu.vn () Nguyenthihuong@hdu.edu.vn () Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 39 specific environmental conditions. The main objective of holding period is to maintain the fertility of hatching eggs. Hua-Tung, Hsin-Yi, Ju-Chi, Quemoy, Nagoya, and Shek-Ki are six breeds of local Taiwan chickens (Chen et al., 1994; Lee, 2006) kept at the research farm of National Chung Hsing University. During the annual reproduction period, their eggs were collected from farm and kept there for one to two weeks in storage before moved to the University for incubation. During this stage, there were many changes of egg’s characteristics. Brake et al., (1997) reviewed the changes in eggs components associated with egg handling, storage and concluded that hatchability and chick quality varied by age of flock, age of egg, ambient temperature, strain and handling procedures. Better understanding of these details, the aim of this study, we investigate the differences of incubation parameters among six breeds of local chickens during the incubation period. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Animals and samples collection 1800 hatching eggs used in this study were obtained from six breeds of local chickens in research farm of National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan: Hua-Tung (HT), Hsin-Yi (HY), Ju-Chi (JC), Shek-Ki (SK), Nagoya (NG) and Quemoy (KM) breeds. Hatching eggs were collected when hens were 59-60 and 29-30 weeks of age respectively for Generation 1 and 2. 2.2. Measurement of traits 2.2.1. Egg weight and storeloss Eggs in each breed after laid were collected and were individually weighed and stored on farm every day to 12 days of experiment. Temperature and humidity in storage period were maintained at 180C, and 75 %. At day 12 after storage, they were reweighed to determine egg weight loss. Eggs weight loss in storage period were determined as follow: (%) 100% Eggwt Storewt Storeloss x Eggwt        Where, Eggwt is eggs weight on the day laid, Storewt is eggs weight to be measured in the farm at 12 days stored before moved to incubator. 2.2.2. Inculoss and hatchloss, hatch time and chicks weight After reweighed at farm, eggs were moved to incubate in the campus of the university. All eggs were incubated for 18 days at 37.80C and relative humidity 50-55%. After 18 days of incubation, all eggs were removed from the incubator, individually weighed and transferred to the hatcher. The eggs were further incubated for an additional 4 days in hatcher at temperature 36.70 C and relative humidity 65-70%. The trays were designed to separate hatching chicks Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 40 and do not allow them to move from their places and mix. Hatched chicks were individually determined hatch time and weighed in 2 hours interval. Inculoss and hatchloss were determined as follow: 18 (%) 100% Storewt Wt Inculoss x Storewt        (%) 100% Storewt Chickwt Hatchloss x Storewt        Where, storewt is eggs weight to be measured in the farm at 12 days stored before moved to incubator, Wt18 is eggs weights to be measured after 18 days of incubation. Chickwt is chicks to be weighted at hatched time. 2.3. Statistical analysis 1. Observation of incubation parameters of eggs laid by hens of six local breeds chicken for two generations were analyzed together using General Linear Models procedures of SAS Institute (version 9.3.1), based on the following statistical model: Yijkl = µ + Gi + Bj + (GB)ij + eijkl Where Yijkl is the observation of the lth egg laid by the kth hen in the jth breed of the ith generation, µ is the general mean. Gi is the fixed effect of the ith generation i = 1, 2, 2 1 0i i G   . Bj is the fixed effect of the jth breed, j = 1, 2, 3,.., 6, 6 1 0j j B   , and . (GB)ij is the fixed interaction between the ith generation and the jth breed 6 2 1 1 ( ) 0ik i k     , and eijkl is the random error. 2. For the estimation of the effect of storage duration, egg weight, and egg shape on the hatching traits, following analysis of covariance statistical model was used: Yijk = µ + Bi + βXijk + εijk where, Yijk is the hatching trait observation of the kth hen egg laid by the jth hen in the ith breed. µ is the general means. β is the partial regression coefficient of the covariate. (Xij , e.g., storage day, egg weight or egg shape of egg) on the hatching traits and εij is the random error. 3. Results and discussions 3.1. Generations The analysis of variance (Mean square) and least-square means of egg weight, egg weight loss, hatch time, chick weight at hatch, and hatchability are shown in Table 1. The significance of effects between two generations were found in egg weight, storeloss (%), hatchloss (%), inculoss (%), chick weight and hatchability (P<0.05), but not found in hatch time (P<0.1). Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 41 Egg weight and chick weight in Generation 1 were higher than Generation 2. The cause is hen’s age. Egg weight increases with age (Anderson et al., 2004; Sukanya, 2007) and chick weight increases with egg weight increases (Alsobayel, 1992). Egg weight loss (%) during storage period (storeloss) in Generation 1 was significantly (P<0.01) higher than Generation 2. However, hatchloss (%), inculoss (%) and hatchability in Generation 2 were significantly (P<0.01) higher than Generation 1 (Table 1). Eggs from older hens tended to lose more weight in grams but less in percentage than those from younger birds (Reis et al., 1997). The effect of breeds*generations interaction was highly significant (P<0.01) on the percentage of egg weight loss during 18 days in setter (inculoss) (Table 1). 3.2. Breeds 3.2.1. Egg weight and Chick weight The heaviest chick weight was Hua-Tung breed, whereas the lightest was Quemoy (Table 1). Overall, day-old chick weights increased with the egg weights (Tona et al., 2003). The quality of newly hatched chick is a major factor in determining its livability, growth, and health. There was a highly significant correlation between egg weight and chick weight at hatched time. Thus, the heavier egg weight will produce the heavier chick weight. 3.2.2. Egg weight loss The highest egg weight loss (%) during storage period was found in Nagoya breed, while the lowest was Hua-Tung breed (Table 1). The Ju-Chi and Quemoy breeds had the highest inculoss (%) while the lowest were found in Shek-Ki and Hua-Tung breeds (P<0.01). In hatchloss (%), however, the highest were found in Quemoy and Hsin-Yi breeds while the lowest were still Shek-Ki and Hua-Tung breeds. Reis et al., (1997) demonstrated that there is an inverse relationship between egg weight and hatchloss. Thus, egg which had smallest egg weight had largest hatchloss. This is the same as our results of eggs laid by Shek-Ki hens. The present results goes well with the observations obtained by Kirk et al., (1980), North and Bell (1990), and Roque and Soares (1994), who reported that proportional weight loss decreased slightly with flock age, probably because of the associated increase in egg weight. As larger eggs have less shell area per unit of interior egg weight than do smaller eggs. Another explanation of the breed’s difference in inculoss might be caused by the shell difference. 3.2.3. Hatchtime There were no difference in hatchtime between two generations, however, among six breeds, we found that the Hsin-Yi breed hatched earlier than other breeds (478.68 h) (Table 1), whereas the longest hatchtime was found in Quemoy and Shek-Ki breeds (492.02 and 491.82 h, respectively). Although there had no significant effect between two generations, the effect of breeds*generations interaction was highly significant (P<0.01) on hatch time (Table 1). Hsin- Yi breed hatched earlier than other breeds in both Generations 1 and 2, whereas, Quemoy and Shek-Ki breeds hatched later than other breeds in both generations. Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 42 Table 1. Analysis of variance (mean square) and least-square means of hatching traits in six breeds of local chickens Source of Variation df Egg weight (g) Storeloss1 (%) Inculoss2 (%) Hatchloss3 (%) Hatch time4 (hr) Chick weight (g) Hatchability (%) Generation 1 2388.44 ** 38.33 ** 38.89 ** 1006.72 ** 216.92 + 2264.93 ** 16.67 * Breed 5 810.52 ** 0.21 212.83 ** 388.57 ** 12741.81 ** 589.91 ** 16.77 * Generation*breed 5 63.80 ** 1.02 58.18 ** 53.18 ** 363.25 ** 71.06 ** 1.09 Error 3087 12.79 0.18 4.03 4.29 74.63 8.00 2.41 Generation 1 46.68 ± 0.10a 0.46 ± 0.01a 12.59 ± 0.06b 27.89 ± 0.06b 486.07 ± 0.24 33.52 ± 0.08a 85.48 ± 0.45b Generation 2 44.87 ± 0.09b 0.23 ± 0.01b 12.83 ± 0.05a 29.06 ± 0.05a 486.62 ± 0.20 31.76 ± 0.07b 87.52 ± 0.63a Hua-Tung 47.56 ± 0.16a 0.32 ± 0.02 12.05 ± 0.09c 27.86 ± 0.10d 484.96 ± 0.39b 34.22 ± 0.13a 88.84 ± 0.95a Hsin-Yi 45.12 ± 0.15d 0.35 ± 0.02 13.02 ± 0.08b 29.00 ± 0.09b 478.68 ± 0.35c 31.93 ± 0.12d 87.62 ± 0.95a Ju-Chi 46.90 ± 0.15b 0.34 ± 0.02 13.29 ± 0.08a 28.56 ± 0.08c 484.90 ± 0.35b 33.39 ± 0.12b 88.48 ± 0.95a Quemoy 44.37 ± 0.16e 0.36 ± 0.02 13.25 ± 0.09ab 29.57 ± 0.09a 492.02 ± 0.38a 31.15 ± 0.13e 83.59 ± 0.95b Nagoya 46.12 ± 0.17c 0.38 ± 0.02 13.04 ± 0.09ab 28.96 ± 0.10b 485.72 ± 0.40b 32.64 ± 0.13c 87.40 ± 0.95a Shek-Ki 44.61 ± 0.19e 0.33 ± 0.02 11.63 ± 0.10d 26.90 ± 0.11e 491.82 ± 0.45a 32.52 ± 0.15c 83.09 ± 0.95b a-e For each measure, means of different breeds without the same superscript are significantly different (P<0.05). + P < 0.1; * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01. 1Storeloss is loss of egg weight during storage period. 2Inculoss is loss of egg weight during 18 days of incubation. 3Hatchloss is loss of egg weight entire 21 days of incubation. 4Hatch time is number of hours required to hatch. Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 43 3.3. Effect of storage time on hatching traits The partial regression coefficients of storage time on hatching traits in two generations were shown in Table 2. Long egg storage time increased storeloss (%), inculoss (%), hatchloss (%) and incubation duration (hatch time) but hatchability. In Generation 1, when eggs were stored for one more day, egg weight loss increased by 0.024% during storage period (storeloss %), 0.03% during 18 days in the setter (inculoss %), and 0.07% for entire incubation period (hatchloss %), increased the hatch time longer by 0.73hr, while hatchability decreased by 0.034%. In Generation 2, when eggs were stored for one more day, egg weight loss increased 0.034% during storage period (storeloss %), 0.017% during 18 days in the setter (inculoss %), and 0.037% for entire incubation period (hatchloss %), the hatch time was longer by 0.723 hr, but hatchability decreased by 0.026%. Reis et al. (1997) reported that eggs submitted to 1 day storage hatched about 3hrs earlier than eggs which were not stored. Yassin et al., (2008) showed that each day of storage up to 7 days reduced hatchability by 0.2%, whereas, further storage reduced hatchability by 0.5% daily. Theses suggest that the effect of pre-storage incubation on hatchability when storage time is prolonged depends on the developmental stage of the embryo after pre-storage incubation. Table 2. Estimates of partial regression coefficients of hatching traits in two generations Source of variation Storeloss1 (%) Inculoss2 (%) Hatchloss3 (%) Hatch time4 (hr) Hatchability (%) Generation1 Storage (d) 0.024 ** 0.03 * 0.07 ** 0.73 ** -0.034 * Egg weight (g) 0.019 * -0.09 * -0.04 + 0.03 ns 0.17 + Egg shape (%) -0.003 ns 0.01 ns 0.03 ns 0.12 ns -0.06 ns Generation 2 Storage (d) 0.034 ** 0.017 * 0.037 ** 0.723 ** -0.026 * Egg weight (g) -0.001 ns -0.091 ** -0.005 ns -0.162 ns 0.019 ns Egg shape (%) -0.003 ns 0.015 ns -0.053 * -0.088 ns -0.043 ns (+ P < 0.1; * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; ns: none significant) 1Storeloss is loss of egg weight during storage, 2Inculoss is loss of egg weight during 18 days in the setter, 3Hatchloss is loss of egg weight entire 21 days of incubation and 4Hatch time is number of hours required to hatch. Hong Duc University Journal of Science, E.4, Vol.9, P (38 - 45), 2017 44 4. Conclusions Eggs weight, chick weight, and storeloss (%) in Generation 1 were higher than Generation 2, whereas, inculoss (%), hatchloss (%), and hatchability in Generation 2 were higher than Generation 1. The highest egg weight loss (%) was found in Quemoy breed, while the lowest was Shek-Ki breed. The highest hatchability was Hua-Tung breed, while the lowest was found in Shek-Ki breed. Long egg storage time increases egg weight loss, incubation duration (hatch time), and decreases hatchability. When eggs stored for one more day, egg weight loss increased by 0.03% during storage period, 0.03% during 18 days in the setter, and 0.07% for entire incubation period, and it also increased the hatch time by 0.73hr and decreased hatchability by about 0.03%. Referrences [1] Alsobayel, A. A. (1992), Effect of protein rearing diet and age on fertility and hatchability parameters of Saudi Arabian Baladi Chickens, J. King Saudi Univ. 4: 47-54. [2] Anderson, K. E., J. B. Tharnington, P. A, and F. 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