A STUDY ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF YOLK RETENTION IN BROILER CHICKS

Kashif Aziz Khan (1) , Shakil Akhtar Khan (1) , Shahnaz Hamid , Asim Aslam (1) , Masood Rabbani

1 Department of Pathology

The present project was designed to identify the factors responsible for yolk retention in broiler chicks. Four different experiments were conducted to find out the effect of four factors (experimental yolk sac infection with Escherichia coli. off-feed period between hatching and housing, first feeding time in the poultry house and type of initial feed) on yolk absorption. Results of these experiments showed that yolk sac infection with E. coli led to decrease in rate of yolk absorption. Moisture and protein percentage was increased in infected yolk but fat percentage was not affected by yolk sac infection. On the other hand, post hatch starvation due to delay in housing and delay in first feeding did not affect rate of yolk absorption. Moisture percentage was not affected while fat absorption increased and protein absorption decreased due to fasting. It was also observed that feeding ground corn in early life of chick led to slow absorption of yolk contents as compared to feeding commercial starter ration and 2% sugar solution. Yolk composition was not affected by feeding commercial starter ration, ground corn and 2% sugar solution in early life of chick. It was concluded that experimental infection of E. coli and ground corn as initial feed affect the rate of yolk absorption in young broiler chicks.

Mots clés: Yolk retention; yolk absorption; yolk sac infection; posthatch starvation; initial feed; broiler chicks

Domaines: Médecine vétérinaire et santé animale

Kashif Aziz Khan, Shakil Akhtar Khan, Shahnaz Hamid, Asim Aslam, Masood Rabbani. A STUDY ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF YOLK RETENTION IN BROILER CHICKS. Pakistan Veterinary Journal, 2002, 22 (4), pp.175-180. ⟨hal-00165844⟩