. 2021 May 4;100(8):101240. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2021.101240

Table 5.

Broiler mean small intestine morphology measurements at 40 d of age (doa) in diluent in ovo-injected (50 μL) control eggs, and eggs in ovo-injected with diluent containing 2.4 μg of vitamin D₃ (D₃) or 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25OHD₃) alone, or with a combination of 2.4 μg of D₃ and 2.4 μg of 25OHD₃ (D₃ + 25OHD₃), and fed a commercial diet or a diet in which calcium and available phosphorus were restricted by 20%.

	Duodenum					Jejunum					Ileum
Treatment	Villus length	Villus width	Crypt depth	RVC¹	VSA²	Villus length	Villus width	Crypt depth	RVC	VSA	Villus length	Villus width	Crypt depth	RVC	VSA
	µm			Length/Depth	mm²	µm			Length/Depth	mm²	µm			Length/Depth	mm²
In ovo injection
Diluent³	1182^b	101	124^a	9.9^b	0.27	975	111	123^a	8.2^b	0.36	565^ab	80.9	97^a	5.9^bc	0.43^b
D₃⁴	1200^b	113	126^a	9.7^b	0.30	903	107	119^a	7.7^b	0.38	458^c	86.1	95^a	4.9^c	0.57^a
25OHD₃⁵	1388^a	106	96^b	15.1^a	0.24	1005	110	91^b	11.3^a	0.35	658^a	88.2	72^b	9.6^a	0.43^b
D₃+25OHD₃⁶	1253^ab	98	112^ab	11.5^b	0.25	918	106	104^ab	9.5^ab	0.37	538^bc	80.1	76^b	7.5^b	0.47^ab
Diet⁷
Commercial	1290	106	109	12.4^a	0.26	957	111	100^b	10.0	0.37	599^a	91.4^a	89	7.1	0.47
ReCaP	1222	103	120	10.7^b	0.27	944	106	118^a	8.4	0.36	501^b	76.3^b	80	6.9	0.48
Pooled SEM	50.4	45.9	7.7	5.8	0.72	0.025	71.4	10.37	8.5	0.98	0.031	22.9	7.61	4.1	0.60
P value
In ovo	0.023	0.474	0.006	0.001	0.276	0.590	0.983	0.011	0.020	0.833	0.003	0.834	0.007	0.001	0.031
Diet	0.166	0.681	0.063	0.032	0.734	0.834	0.560	0.019	0.074	0.490	0.017	0.049	0.115	0.827	0.701
In ovo x Diet	0.606	0.773	0.608	0.672	0.361	0.939	0.541	0.983	0.103	0.117	0.698	0.949	0.820	0.585	0.830

^a,bTreatment means within the same variable column within type of treatment with no common superscript differ significantly (P < 0.05).

Ratio of villus length to crypt depth.

Villus surface area (VSA) calculated with average villus length and width = 2π × (width/2) × length.

Eggs injected with 50 μL commercial diluent at d 18 of incubation.

⁴

Eggs injected with 50 μL commercial diluent containing vitamin D₃ at 2.4 μg at d 18 of incubation.

⁵

Eggs injected with 50 μL commercial diluent containing 25OHD₃ at 2.4 μg at d 18 of incubation.

⁶

Eggs injected with 50 μL commercial diluent containing D₃ at 2.4 and 25OHD₃ at 2.4 μg at d 18 of incubation.

⁷

A diet restricted Ca and available P by 20% throughout the rearing period.