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. 2019 Dec 30;99(1):407–415. doi: 10.3382/ps/pez512

Table 2.

Effects of in ovo treatment and ambient temperature on growth, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio in broiler chickens during starter, grower, and finisher feeding phases.

 Treatment (Tr)
 Temperature (T)
 Significance
Trait C1 S2 GOS3 TN4 HS5 SEM Tr T Tr × T
Starter (days 0–13)
 Chick body weight (g, day 0) 49.3a 45.3b 45.2b 46.4 46.8 0.94 ** NS NS
 Body weight (kg) 0.428 0.412 0.428 0.426 0.419 0.006 NS NS NS
 Daily weight gain (g/bird/d) 28.9 28.1 29.4 29.1 28.6 0.44 NS NS NS
 Daily feed intake (g/bird/d) 37.0 36.2 37.1 37.0 36.5 0.46 NS NS NS
 FCR 1.281 1.291 1.261 1.273 1.282 0.01 NS NS NS
 Mortality (%) 2.28 0.65 0.98 1.30 1.30 0.02 NS NS NS
Grower (days 14–27)
 Body weight (kg) 1.56 1.53 1.58 1.56 1.55 0.016 NS NS NS
 Daily weight gain (g/bird/d) 80.4 79.6 81.1 80.3 80.5 0.97 NS NS NS
 Daily feed intake (g/bird/d) 116.8 113.6 116.9 116.1 115.4 1.04 0.054 NS NS
 FCR 1.452 1.428 1.442 1.447 1.436 0.02 NS NS NS
 Mortality (%) 0.67 2.62 1.95 2.19 1.30 0.03 NS NS NS
Finisher (days 28–42)
 Body weight (kg) 2.76b 2.79b 2.89a 3.11 2.52 0.029 ** ** NS
 Daily weight gain (g/bird/d) 80.4b 84.7a,b 88.0a 103.1 65.7 1.44 ** ** NS
 Daily feed intake (g/bird/d) 165.7b 168.7a,b 173.2a 185.3 153.2 2.05 * ** NS
 FCR 2.148a 2.054a,b 2.016b 1.799 2.347 0.03 * ** *
 Mortality (%) 6.34 3.04 4.54 1.59 7.69 0.05 NS ** NS
Total (days 0–42)
 Body weight (kg) 2.76b 2.79b 2.89a 3.11 2.52 0.029 ** ** NS
 Feed intake (kg) 4.56 4.50 4.62 4.81 4.31 0.02 NS ** NS
 Daily weight gain (g/bird/d) 64.3b 64.8a,b 66.8a 71.79 58.77 0.66 * ** NS
 Daily feed intake (g/bird/d) 108.6 107.3 110.01 114.6 102.6 0.99 NS ** NS
 FCR 1.701a 1.664a,b 1.653b 1.597 1.749 0.01 * ** NS
 Mortality (%) 8.98 6.10 7.39 4.93 10.01 0.05 NS NS NS
 European Broiler Index 350.0 368.6 377.4 427.6 303.1 11.7 NS ** NS
1

C = Control (untreated); 2 S = in ovo injected with physiological saline (mock-treated); 3 GOS (galactooligosaccharides) = in ovo injected with GOS (prebiotic-treated); 4 TN—thermoneutral conditions; 5 HS—heat stress conditions (on days 32–42); Significance: NS = P > 0.05; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01

a,b

Means within a row lacking a common superscript differ (P < 0.05).

FCR, Feed conversion rate