Effect of Induced Molting on Production Performance, Egg Quality, Hatching Traits and Juvenile Performance of Sasso Broiler Breeders
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2023.46.57Keywords:
Broiler breeders, chick performance, egg quality, fertility and induced moltingAbstract
Background and Objective: Moulting of older breeders is a procedure to obtain or to increase reproductive performance of breeders by restoration of egg quality. A 15-week study was carried out to examine the effect of induced molting of Sasso broiler breeders by feed withdrawal for a period of 9 days on the production performance, egg quality, hatching traits and 1-week post-hatch chick performance. Materials and Methods: A total of 240 Sasso broiler breeders (72 weeks old) were randomly allotted to two treatment groups (non-molt and molt) of 120 hens each. Each group was further divided into six replicates with 20 hens per replicate and 2 cocks each. The hens in the molt treatment group were subjected to molting by feed withdrawal for a period of 9 days. After the commencement of egg production, eggs were collected from the two experimental groups and incubated (from the 7th week after molting). Collection and incubation were repeated 5 times. The chicks hatched from these incubations were reared for 1-week. Results: The eggs from the molted hens had a higher albumen height and haugh unit. The eggs from the molted hens had an improvement in fertility while the hatchability of the fertile eggs was not different in the 2 groups. The incubation duration, chick weight and quality at hatch showed no difference between the treatments. At the end of the 7 days post-hatch, there was no difference in chick performance. Conclusion: It was concluded that although induced molting procedure with feed withdrawal improved the production, quality and fertility of eggs of Sasso broiler breeders, it did not influence chick quality and 1-week performance.
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