Open AccessIn ovo nutrition using honey: effects on hatchability, performance and carcass yields in broilers
Author(s) -
Gabriela Medeiros Dal’Alba,
Cleiton Melek,
Maiara Schneider,
Guilherme Luiz Deolindo,
Marcel Manente Boiago,
Glaucia Amorin Faria,
Lenita Moura Stefani,
Aleksandro S. Da Silva,
Denise Nunes Araújo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
research, society and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2525-3409
DOI - 10.33448/rsd-v9i8.5178
Subject(s) - in ovo , incubation , biology , broiler , hatching , zoology , saline , inoculation , feed conversion ratio , body weight , incubation period , veterinary medicine , embryo , medicine , horticulture , endocrinology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology
The objective of this study was to determine whether inoculating honey from Apis mellifera into broiler chick eggs (in ovo nutrition) during incubation would improve hatchability and performance. Initially, four hundred eggs were incubated; at 12 days of incubation, ovoscopy was performed to select the fertile eggs and divide them into three groups: control, saline and honey groups. On the 17th day of incubation we inoculated 0.2 mL of each solution directly into the amniotic cavity. After hatching, the chicks were housed in an experimental house until 28 days of age, when two birds per experimental unit were sacrificed to evaluate carcass yield. The hatchability was not affected by inoculation of saline or honey (p>0.05). However, mortality was higher in the honey and saline groups than in the control group (p 0.05). These results show that the in ovo nutrition with bee honey resulted in lower production costs, that is, the birds consumed less food (feed) and had the same weight gain as other treatments.