. 2021 May 27;11(6):1568. doi: 10.3390/ani11061568

Table 3.

Effect of early nutrition with different diets post-hatching (PH) on the relative weights (% of live body weight) and histomorphology of lymphoid organs and proventriculus (µm) of layer-type chicks at day 28 of age.

Items ²	Treatments ¹				SEM	p-Value
Items ²	CON-T1	T2	T3	T4	SEM	p-Value
*Lymphoid organs*
*Thymus gland*
Relative weight	0.230	0.250	0.265	0.260	0.013	0.33
Cortex	278.20 ^b	353.38 ^a	396.71 ^a	408.38 ^a	31.13	0.01
Medulla	217.23	227.10	226.25	209.74	35.48	0.98
Cortex:Medulla	1.28 ^b	1.55 ^a,b	1.75 ^a	1.95 ^a	0.11	0.03
Bursa of Fabricius
Relative weight	0.240	0.253	0.250	0.251	0.016	0.36
Pelicae height	99.20 ^c	135.39 ^b	169.81 ^a	161.33 ^a	15.76	0.008
Follicle width	189.71 ^c	163.78 ^c	233.15 ^b	314.91 ^a	21.06	<0.001
Cortex	212.67 ^b	223.21 ^b	246.24 ^b	521.65 ^a	37.68	<0.001
Medulla	167.12	137.83	159.93	147.84	16.69	0.37
Cortex:Medulla	1.30 ^b	1.62 ^b	1.56 ^b	3.65 ^a	0.462	0.003
Spleen
Relative weight	0.115	0.120	0.125	0.135	0.009	0.28
Red pulp	179.41	165.20	181.99	169.73	19.13	0.79
White pulp	126.51 ^c	180.41 ^b	163.61 ^b	231.20 ^a	20.35	0.009
GCA	0.37 ^c	0.55 ^b	0.66 ^a	0.63 ^a,b	0.038	<0.001
*Digestive organs*
*Proventriculus*
Relative weight	0.895	0.935	1.015	0.965	0.048	0.17
Fold height	493.88 ^b	584.23 ^b	597.53 ^b	1182.03 ^a	59.41	<0.001
Mucosa	973.42	953.84	944.59	1118.86	125.54	0.34
Gland	624.79 ^b	892.82 ^a	1039.14 ^a	855.09 ^a	84.93	0.008
Lumen	179.03	271.63	288.64	261.50	33.07	0.20
Liver
Glycogen density	1.75 ^c	2.43 ^b,c	3.08 ^a,b	3.50 ^a	0.317	0.003

^a–c values in the same row with different letters are significantly varied at p ˂ 0.05, SEM, pooled standard error of the means. ¹ CON-T1, no feed or water during the first 72 h of PH; T2, chicks fed on a layer starter diet contained 20% CP and 11.84 MJ/kg; T3, chicks fed on a layer starter diet contained 20% CP and 11.81 MJ/kg (diet contained 3% molasses) and T4, chicks fed on a broiler starter diet contained 23% CP and 12.68 MJ/kg during the first 72 h PH. The experimental diets were provided on ad libitum. All birds after 72 h PH were fed a commercial layer starter mash diet (the diet T2) ad libitum for 42 days ². GCA, germinal center area.