HATCHERY

Chick size matters

Recent studies indicate that
there are positive correlations
between the length of newlyhatched chicks and their
subsequent performance.
These results could influence
traditional ideas about what
typifies good results in
incubation.
By Ron Meijerhof, senior technical specialist,
Hybro BV, Boxmeer (Netherlands)

ncubation is a miracle of life: a delicate process that requires high levels

of understanding and control for us to
replicate the natural process that successfully transforms the contents of a fertile
egg into a living, day-old chick. Around
the world, the incubation sector has
come to understand how sensitive these
processes are - and how subtle the
changes in settings and conditions can
be, to make the difference between good
and poor results.
But questions arise: what typifies good
results in incubation? Which incubation
results are really important to the rest of
the poultry production chain?

Quantity or quality?
Traditionally, the performance of the
hatchery is judged by the number of
chicks it produces from the setting of fertile eggs. Increasingly, that judgement is
further consolidated by factoring in the
cost price per chick hatched. Although
quantity and cost price are important issues, they fall short of fully describing
the influence that the hatchery can have
in determining results throughout the

Chick length is an indicator for chick quality and potential growth

total integration. And although survival

rate in the first week is an important
trait related to the quality of the incubation process, this measurement alone
does not adequately express the importance of incubation in the context of the
whole production chain.
Research has shown that the quality of
the day-old chicken and, by association,
the quality of the incubation process, has
a major influence on determining the
subsequent performance of broilers at
processing age. In an experiment at Penn
State University a difference of five to
seven points in feed conversion for broilers at six weeks of age was observed, depending on the temperature conditions
in the last five days of incubation. As this
relates to 100 to 140 g of feed for a 2 kg
broiler, it is clear that the benefits of a
good incubation process go far beyond a
good hatch of fertiles or a low cost per
chick hatched.

Chick weight and length

During incubation, the content of the egg
is used by the embryo to build up its
body. The energy for this process comes
mainly from the absorption of the yolk.
As we know, any remaining yolk is taken
up in the body cavity before hatching, to
sustain the chick in its first days posthatch. This means that if we measure day
old chick weight, we measure not only
the weight of physical chick that is
formed during incubation, but we are also weighing the remaining yolk and
cannot distinguish between the two. For
example, a 45 g day old chick weight may
be a combination of 35 g physical chick
plus 10 g of residual yolk, or it may be 42
g chick plus 3 g residual yolk. A difference of just 7 g in actual bodyweight,
means that the 42 g chick has developed
20% more body tissue than the 35 g
chick. This is evident not only in the
weight of the so-called yolk free body
mass (chick without yolk) but also in the

Longer chicks have better organs

Initial research by the Dutch incubator manufacturing company
Hatchtech showed that there is a positive correlation between
chick length at day 0 and chick weight at day 7. Following that
work the idea was born that a longer chick would possibly have
better developed organs. During a consecutive trial the researchers could prove that the heart, liver and spleen were better
developed at day 7 in the large chick length group compared to
the small chick length group. The difference in heart and liver
weight was not significantly different between the large and
middle chick length group, probably due to the small difference
between the groups in chick length.

Table 1 Average weight and length of chick parameters per group of chick length

Chick length day 0 Heart

Liver
Spleen
(cm)*
(gr)*
(gr)*
(gr)*
large chick length group
20,2a
1,49a
7,78a 0,149a
middle chick length group
19,6b
1,43a
7,71a
0,122b
small chick length group
18,6c
1,25b
6,51b 0,120c
significant difference (p<0,05) yes
yes
yes
yes
*columns with different letters are significantly different (p<0,05)
Source: Roos Molenaar MSc and Inge Reijrink MSc, HatchTech Research Department

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Bursa
(gr)*
0,30
0,28
0,26
no

Intestine
(cm)*
92,56
92,31
88,85
no

length of the chick, whereby we measure

the length of the spine or the length of
the total chick from tip of beak to tip of
toe against a ruler. Hybros own research
has shown a good correlation between
the length of the chick and the amount
of yolk free body mass.
We can reasonably conclude that a
chick that builds up more body tissue
during incubation and is therefore larger
at the moment of hatching, might be
considered a more developed chick. At
the end of the incubation process, the total length of the embryo (tip of beak to
tip of toe) increases by approximately 1
cm per 24 hours, which also suggests that
a longer, more developed embryo at moment of hatching is more mature. Our
first measurements indicate that this extra development shows not only in the
length of the chick, but also, for example,
in length of its intestinal tract.

Influence of length
As we increase our knowledge about the
influence the length and development of
a day old chick subsequently has on the
birds performance, many questions are
raised and many of the consequences
are currently under investigation:
Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between chick length
at moment of hatch and broiler performance at six weeks of age.
It has also been observed that the
length of the intestinal tract increases
with chick length, which may indicate
a more developed gut system.
The yolk contains the maternal antibodies that mother hen passes on to
her offspring to protect them against
the disease challenges she is experiencing. If there is a difference in utilisation of the yolk during incubation, it is
feasible that a day-old chick that has
not absorbed more yolk may also not

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fully develop its immune system as we

would expect.
When chicks are vaccinated in-ovo, the
aim is to deliver the vaccine in the amnion fluid, which is swallowed by the
embryo during incubation. With insufficient development during incubation,
a small, under-developed embryo will
not benefit from absorption of the amnion, as the vaccine will be delivered
via the allantoic membrane, which renders the vaccination ineffective.
Although there is still much to learn
about the effect and value of chick
length, we do know that an increase in
length has a positive effect on broiler performance, and that an extra centimetre
in development will pay dividends in the
ultimate broilers performance.