Metabolism and Nutrition: Production, Dietary Manipulation and Manufacturing

Chick embryo development is associated with an accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipid tissues making them susceptible to lipid peroxidation. It has been accepted that canthaxanthin has high antioxidant capacity. Research findings have repeatedly indicated that feeding 25(OH)D3 (25-hydroxycholecalciferol), to poultry breeders, broilers and layers increased performance and health. Therefore, one experiment was conducted with the objective to evaluate a product called Rovimix MaxiChick (association of 6 ppm of canthaxanthin and 69 μg/kg feed of 25(OH)D3) to broiler breeders diets on their performance and hatchery parameters. It was used 264 females and 24 males COBB 500 broiler breeders with 25 to 52 weeks of age. The diets were based on corn and soybean meal. The treatments were: control diet and control diet with Rovimix MaxiChick. The parameters evaluated were body weight, laying rate, egg weight, specific gravity, percentage of albumen, yolk and shell, yolk color. Other parameters evaluated were the hatching rate, hatching of fertile eggs, fertility, embryo mortality, chick’s weight and percentage of chicks of low quality. To evaluate the laying rate were performed 6 daily collections during the experimental period. Eggs collect a day of week were used for all others analysis. Non-hatched eggs were submitted to to embryo diagnostics. The addition of MaxiChick in diets of broiler breeders not affected the productive performance of birds and quality of eggs. Broiler breeders fed with MaxiChick had highest deposition of carotenoids in the yolk, also increase the hatchability (P < 0.0075) from 87.15 to 89.67%, hatchability of fertile eggs (P < 0.0237) from 91.63 to 92.60% and reduce the percentage of early embryo mortality (first 48 h of incubation) (P < 0.0178) from 1.42 to 1.04% during the total period evaluated. The number of contaminated eggs, average weight of chicks and the percentage of low chicks and fertility were not affected by the addition of products. In conclusion MaxiChick improve most of the reproductive parameter evaluated in this trial.