Table 4.
Effects of in ovo feeding of N-acetyl-L-glutamate (NAG) on intestinal length and relative length of the intestine of broilers at 14 D post-hatch.1
| Item | Variables | Treatment groups |
SEM5 | P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC2 | SC3 | NAG4 | ||||
| Intestinal length (cm) | Duodenum | 18.60 | 18.70 | 17.50 | 0.36 | 0.382 |
| Jejunum | 41.25 | 38.00 | 37.25 | 0.85 | 0.163 | |
| Ileum | 39.00 | 35.00 | 34.50 | 0.92 | 0.154 | |
| Relative length of the intestine6 (cm/kg) | Duodenum | 45.12 | 46.04 | 44.19 | 1.28 | 0.856 |
| Jejunum | 99.93 | 93.38 | 93.45 | 1.87 | 0.314 | |
| Ileum | 91.73 | 85.93 | 86.65 | 2.12 | 0.584 | |
1
N = 6, one chick from each replicate (11 chicks).
2
NC: non-punctured control group.
3
SC: saline-injected control group (eggs injected with 300 μL of saline water at 17.5 D of incubation).
4
NAG: NAG solution–injected group (eggs injected with 300 μL of saline water containing NAG 1.5 mg/egg at 17.5 D of incubation).
5
SEM: standard error of the mean.
6
Relative length of the intestine = intestinal length (cm)/the body weight (kg).