Effects of conjugated linoleic acid supplementation in broiler breeders and in their progeny pre-placement diet on embryo and broiler chicks development

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the development of the gastrointestinal tract and organs in 18-days embryos (ED18) and newly hatched chicks from broiler breeders supplemented with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), as well as the development of their progeny up to 7 days of age, which also received CLA supplementation in the pre-placement diet during the first 12 hours post-hatch. A total of 540 eggs from two Cobb500 breeder flocks, supplemented with either 0 or 0.025% CLA, were incubated, and after hatching, broiler chicks received diets containing either 0 or 0.025% CLA for 12 hours before placement. A total of 320 chicks were housed in a completely randomized 2 × 2 factorial design (breerder CLA × post-hatch CLA), resulting in four treatments with eight replicates of 10 birds each. Intestinal development and relative organ weight (RW) were assessed at 18 days of incubation, at hatching, at 12 hours of holding, and at 7 days post-hatch; performance from 1 to 7 days was also evaluated. Supplementation of CLA (both broiler breeders and pre-placement diet) increased body weight (BW) at 12 h of holding and reduced pancreas RW at 7 days (P<0.05). The RW of the stomach and liver were higher at 7 days when only one source of supplementation was provided (P<0.05). Post-hatch CLA supplementation increased the lengths of the total and small intestines, while breeder supplementation alone also increased small intestine length (P<0.05). Both total and small intestine RW were lowest in the absence of CLA supplementation (P<0.05). Breeder supplementation with CLA led to improved BW and weight gain by day 7. The data shows that CLA supplementation in broiler breeders and their progeny affects gastrointestinal tract and organ development, and supplementation of breeders is recommended to enhance early performance.