Table 3.

Results of the grow-out phase (3) whereby the transgenerational effects of the maternal treatments (control, LPS, β-glucan) are investigated. Effects of LPS and β-glucan treatment on BW, ADG, ADFI, and G:F of the offspring before and after the NE challenge (d 15) are shown. On d 0 group BW was determined and averaged per pen. Individual BW were determined on d 7, d 14, d 21 and d 35. The other parameters were measured and calculated during a time interval of 7 d. Unless stated otherwise, results are shown as least squares means¹.

Variable	Control	LPS	β-glucan	SEM	P-value	Average
Body weight (g)
D 0	45.1	45.2	45.4	0.5	0.878	45.3
D 7	169.4	170.2	167.0	3.4	0.713	168.9
D 14	420.2	413.0	418.3	12.4	0.816	417.2
D 21	860.2	847.1	855.0	23.9	0.889	854.1
D 35	2,334.8	2,300.6	2,340.9	57.2	0.832	2,325.4
D 0 to 7
ADG. g	17.75	17.86	17.22	0.451	0.533	17.61
ADFI. g	17.4	17.4	17.1	0.4	0.694	17.3
G:F	1.017	1.027	1.008	0.015	0.601	1.017
D 7 to 14
ADG. g	35.83	34.68	35.91	1.60	0.612	35.47
ADFI. g	49.1	49.2	49.4	1.7	0.981	49.3
G:F	0.730	0.705	0.724	0.016	0.229	0.720
D 14 to 21
ADG. g	62.41	61.98	61.78	2.01	0.971	62.06
ADFI. g	86.2	82.0	86.6	2.8	0.403	84.9
G:F	0.725a	0.757b	0.713a	0.011	0.017	0.731
D 21 to 35
ADG. g	104.55	101.39	105.69	2.62	0.492	103.88
ADFI. g	154	150.5	156.7	4.0	0.462	153.7
G:F	0.679	0.674	0.675	0.009	0.888	0.68
D 0 to 35
ADG. g	60.56	58.93	60.81	1.34	0.558	60.10
ADFI. g	85.2	82.8	86.3	2.0	0.454	84.8
G:F	0.711	0.712	0.705	0.005	0.367	0.71

Abbreviations: ADFI, average daily feed intake; ADG, average daily gain; BW, body weight; G:F, gain and feed ratio; LPS, lipopolysaccharides; NE, Necrotic enteritis.

¹Each treatment consisted of 6 pens with 15 male chickens per pen.

^a-bEffects were considered to be significant when P ≤ 0.05.