Effects of injected gluconeogenic supplementation on the performance of broilers from young breeders

Abstract

Previous research has shown that administering carbohydrates to late-term embryos increases chick hatching weight and liver glycogen content and that supplementing broiler chicks from young hens at day of hatch with subcutaneously injected hydrolyzed casein and thiamine enhances their early performance. It was hypothesized that other practical and readily available gluconeogenic energy sources, including hydrolyzed casein, may similarly be given to hatchlings from immature breeder hens to increase the availability of liver glycogen reserves and augment growth. In addition to physiological saline (sham) and hydrolyzed casein treatments, 2 other treatments containing practical gluconeogenic energy sources (chicken egg crude albumin or albumin hydrolysate) were tested in the current study using hatchlings that were subsequently provided adequate brooding and nutrition. Added biotin was included in the crude albumin treatment. There were no treatment effects on mortality, BW gain, feed or water consumption, feed conversion, body temperature, hematocrit, plasma refractive index, relative liver weight, or liver glycogen content at any of the ages or age intervals examined through d 16 posthatch. These results suggest that under proper brooding conditions and timely feed provision, growth is not facilitated by injected casein hydrolysate, chicken egg crude albumin, or chicken egg albumin hydrolysate during the early transition from fat to carbohydrate-based nutrient uptake in posthatch chicks from young breeder hens.