In ovo injection of branched‐chain amino acids: Embryonic development, hatchability and hatching quality of turkey poults (original) (raw)

2019, Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition

Poultry productivity depends upon post-hatch efficacy characteristics such as growth, meat yield and egg production. The embryonic growth and development rate, a determinant of these characteristics, should be at the optimum level during the perinatal period (the last few days prior to hatch and the first few days after hatch). In poultry, current evidence on poultry embryo development (Uni, Ferket, Tako, & Kedar, 2005; Gao et al., 2018) indicates that the perinatal period is the most crucial time for growth and developmental programming of metabolically active organs and tissues: liver, heart, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and skeletal muscles. These organs and tissues carry out many important digestive, metabolic and excretory activities, which have a significant role in health and productivity (Foye, Uni, & Ferket, 2006). The development and growth of embryos are influenced by nutrients in the albumen and yolk used as the main source of amino acids for tissue synthesis (Shafey, Sami, & Abouheif, 2013). Therefore, muscle production and protein synthesis in the late-term embryo depend on the amounts of amino acids flowing into the amniotic cavity, the yolk-sac (YS) and finally the digestive tract of the embryo. The types and amounts of amino acids in the albumen and yolk are influenced by several factors (e.g.,