Effects of Egg Weight, Glucose Administration at Hatch, and Delayed Access to Feed and Water on the Poult at 2 Weeks of Age

Abstract

Eggs from a 42-wk-old small-type turkey breeder flock were weighed and divided into heavy, medium, and light categories relative to the population average. Poults from each category were sexed, then given .5 mL of 50% glucose in saline by either crop intubation (CI) or subcutaneous injection at the neck (SC). Controls did not receive glucose. One-half of the birds from each treatment were immediately given access to feed and water in pens of brooder batteries; the remainder were held 3 days in transportation boxes before placement in other pens of the same batteries.Poult weight at hatching and 3 days later paralleled egg weight. Improvement in 3 day BW occurred after glucose administration and was greater by SC than CI, but these advantages were only apparent when feed and water had been accessible during the interim. Egg weight effects on BW and gain persisted to 2 wk of age, as did the depression from delayed nutrient access; however, the advantage from glucose with poults having early access to nutrition disappeared. Alterations in the proximate compositions of livers and carcasses among treatments were small. Total mortality increased with egg weight when poults received feed and water early after hatching, while the converse occurred when delayed. Deaths were not altered by either glucose or fasting (P>.05).