Table 1.
Effect of In ovo injection of methionine and cysteine on hatch results and anatomical characteristics of one-day-old broiler chicks.
| Items | Treatments | SEM (Standard Error of the Mean) | p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | NaCl | Met-Cys | |||
| Hatchability (%) | 78 | 78 | 80 | 1.3 | 0.758 |
| Hatch time (h) | 493 b | 508 a | 505 a | 1.6 | <0.01 |
| Chick weight (g) | 42.12 b | 42.67 b | 44.66 a | 0.38 | 0.027 |
| Liver (%) | 1.75 | 1.76 | 1.80 | 0.03 | 0.859 |
| Heart (%) | 0.57 | 0.57 | 0.58 | 0.01 | 0.991 |
| Pectoral muscle (%) | 0.71 | 0.72 | 0.81 | 0.02 | 0.146 |
| Small Intestine (%) | 1.97 | 1.99 | 2.07 | 0.06 | 0.779 |
| Left lung (%) | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.32 | 0.01 | 0.449 |
| Residual yolk (%) | 14.24 | 14.56 | 14.40 | 0.44 | 0.956 |
a,b Values within a row with different letters differ significantly (p < 0.05). Control = Non-injected; NaCl = Saline-injected; Met-Cys = injected with 5.90 mg l-methionine plus 3.40 mg l-cysteine.