Table 5.
Total egg and settable egg production per hen housed, and overall fertility and hatchability of eggs produced by broiler breeder hens fed a diet supplemented with 0.00 or 0.25% AZOMITE from 21 (onset of photostimulation) through 65 wk of age (Experiment 3)1.
| Parameter | Dietary treatment |
SEM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% AZ5 | 0.25% AZ | ||
| Total egg production (eggs/hen) | 158 | 166 | 5.0 |
| Total settable egg production (eggs/hen) | 132 | 140* | 4.3 |
| Total cracked egg production (eggs/hen) | 6 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Total misshaped egg production (eggs/hen) | 2 | 2 | 0.2 |
| Total double-yolked egg production (eggs/hen) | 1 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Total dirty egg production (eggs/hen) | 12 | 11 | 0.7 |
| Total floor egg production (eggs/hen) | 6 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Fertility (%) | 81.0 | 84.3 | 1.73 |
| Hatchability2 (%) | 75.4 | 77.7 | 1.82 |
| Hatch of fertile (%) | 93.0 | 92.2 | 0.40 |
| Early dead embryos3,4 (%) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.21 |
| Late dead embryos3,4 (%) | 1.9 | 1.7 | 0.23 |
| In-shell3,4 (%) | 1.6 | 2.9*** | 0.14 |
The values are means, n = 9 replicate pens per treatment with 38 hens per pen. Ninety eggs from each replicate pen were incubated and hatched at 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44, 47, 50, 53, 56, and 59 wk of age. *AZ value for a given parameter differs from the corresponding control value, (*P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001).
Hatch of eggs set
Embryo mortality was classified as early dead (less than 14 d) or late dead (15–21 d of incubation) embryos. In shell included both live and dead –in-shell at the time of hatch.
Calculated as a percentage of fertile eggs.
AZ = AZOMITE.