National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
In commercial broiler hatcheries, chicks hatch over a period of 20–36 hours. The chicks are removed from the hatch tray of the incubator after a majority of them have cleared from the eggshell. Then, the chicks undergo various hatchery practices like sexing, vaccination, packaging, and transport before they are placed in a commercial broiler farm. Thus, under practical conditions, chicks remain deprived of feed and water for about 48–72 hours after hatching. Although residual yolk serves as a source of nutrients till access to exogenous source of feed is secured in the newly hatched chicks, this delay in access to feed and water causes mobilization of body reserves to support metabolism and thermal regulation in the neonatal chicks, which results in retardation of bodyweight and impairment of overall performance. Approximately 2 to 5% of the hatchlings do not survive the critical post-hatch adjustment period and many survivors show stunted growth, poor feed utilization, reduced immunity, and low meat yield. These problems can be avoided by the early provision of nutrients to the chicks. The present study evaluates the effects of an early chick nutrition supplement, Chikimune® (M/s Ayurvet Limited, India), on the performance and immunity of broilers.
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