Effects Of In Ovo Feeding Glutamine On The Early Growth And Development In Broiler

In order to test the effects of in ovo injection of glutamine on the early growth and development of broiler intestine, 240 hatching broiler eggs at 18-d incubation were randomly divided into 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 10 eggs each. Embryos in treatment One, control group, were injected with 1 mL 0.75% physiological saline into amniotic cavity,and those in treatment Two, Three and Four, all as test groups, were injected each with 1mL 0.5%, 1.0% or 1.5% glutamine solution also into amniotic cavity. The results are as follows:1. Effects of in ovo feeding of glutamine on the early growth and development of individual broiler(1) The hatching rates of all four treatments was 96.67%, 98.33%, 95.00% and 96.67% (P>0.005%), showing no effects of in ovo glutamine feeding on hatching rate.(2) The in ovo feeding of glutamine showed a trend of increase of post-hatch broiler weight and post-hatch broiler weight / egg weight (P>0.05).(3) At day 3 post-hatch broiler, the body weights in test groups are increased in comparison with those of the control group (P>0.05). The body weight of broilers in ovo fed with 1.0% glutamine is increased by 10.89% at day 7 post-hatch compared with that of control group (P<0.01). The body weight of broilers in ovo fed with 1.5% glutamine group is increased significantly by 7.33% compared with that of the control group (P<0.05).(4) The plasma T4 concentration of 3-day-old broilers treated with 0.5% glutamine is increased significantly by 23.67% compared with that of control group (P<0.05). And the plasma T3 concentration of 7-day-old broilers in ovo treated with 1.0% and 1.5% glutamine rose respectively by 36.63% and 26.16% compared with the control group (P<0.05). The plasma T4 levels of the embryos treated with 1.0% and 1.5% glutamine increased respectively by 24.33% and 16.09% in comparison with that of the control group (P<0.01).2. Effects of in ovo feeding glutamine on early small intestine development in broilers(1) The length, weight and relative weight of duodenum, jejunum and ileum of broilers two hours post-hatch in all treatments showed no statistical differences compared with that of the control group (P>0.05).However, the weight and relative weight of duodenum of 7-day-old hatched broilers treated with 1.5% glutamine is increased by 9.59% and 10.77% respectively in comparison to those of the control group (P<0.05). There in no difference in the length, weight and relative weight of jejunum and ileum between all treatments (P>0.05). (2) The in ovo feeding with glutamine increased the villus height but decreased the crypt depth at different rates, therefore increasing the villus height/crypt depth ratio and improving the development of mucous membrane of small intestine to same extent. The improvements varied with the broiler ages (two or seven days past hatch), the anatomic locations of intestine and the concentration of glutamine solution. And the in ovo feeding with 1.0% glutamine showed prominent effects on the improvement of jejunum and ileum of 7-day-old broilers past hatch.3. Effects of in ovo feeding of glutamine on the early immune organ of post-hatch broiler The weight and relative weight of thymus, spleen and bursa of fabricius of 7-d post-hatch broiler in ovo fed with glutamine had on statistical differences compared with those of the control group (P>0.05). The thymus weight of 7-d broilers in ovo fed with glutamine showed incremental trend (P>0.05). And the thymus indexes of broilers in ovo treated with 1.0% and 1.5% glutamine respectively increased by 22.67% and 19.56% (both at P<0.05) compared with those of the control group. The spleen weight of broilers in ovo treated with 0.5% glutamine increased by 25.00% compared with that of the control group (P<0.05), and the spleen indexes increased by 24.53% (P<0.05). The spleen weight and spleen index of broilers in ovo treated with 1.0% glutamine is respectively increased by 31.25% and 32.08% (P<0.05). However, the weight and relative weight of bursa of fabricius in all test groups showed no statistical differences compared with the control group (P>0.05).