Effects of the In Ovo Administration of L-ascorbic Acid on the Performance and Incidence of Corneal Erosion in Ross 708 Broilers Subjected to Elevated Levels of Atmospheric Ammonia
Effects of the injection of various levels of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) on the performance and corneal erosion incidence in Ross 708 broilers exposed to 50 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric ammonia (NH ) after hatch were determined. A total of 1440 Ross 708 broiler embryos were randomly assigned t...
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Published in | Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 399 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Switzerland
MDPI AG
24.01.2023
MDPI |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Effects of the
injection of various levels of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) on the performance and corneal erosion incidence in Ross 708 broilers exposed to 50 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric ammonia (NH
) after hatch were determined. A total of 1440 Ross 708 broiler embryos were randomly assigned to 4 treatments: non-injected (control), 0.85% sterile saline-injected (control), or saline containing 12 or 25 mg of L-AA. At hatch, 12 male chicks were randomly assigned to each of 48 battery cages with 12 replicate cages randomly assigned to each treatment group. All birds were exposed to 50 ppm of NH
for 35 d and the concentration of NH
in the battery cage house was recorded every 20 s. Mortality was determined daily, and mean body weight (BW), BW gain (BWG), average daily BW gain (ADG), and feed intake, as well as feed conversion ratio (FCR), were determined weekly. From 0 to 35 d of post-hatch age (doa), six birds from each cage were selected and sampled for eye erosion scoring. Incidences of corneal erosion were significantly higher at 21 and 28 doa in comparison to those at 14 and 35 doa, and at 21 doa, birds in the saline-injected group exhibited a higher incidence of corneal erosion compared to all other treatment groups. The
injection of 12 mg of L-AA increased BWG (
= 0.043) and ADG (
= 0.041), and decreased FCR (
= 0.043) from 0 to 28 doa in comparison to saline-injected controls. In conclusion the
administration of 12 mg of L-AA may have the potential to improve the live performance of broilers chronically exposed to high aerial NH
concentrations, but further study is needed to determine the physiological and immunological factors that may contribute to this improvement. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 This publication is a contribution of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station. This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project under accession number 1011797. Use of trade names in this publication does not imply endorsement by Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station of these products, nor similar ones not mentioned. |
ISSN: | 2076-2615 2076-2615 |
DOI: | 10.3390/ani13030399 |