Table 5.
Effects of in ovo feeding of γ-aminobutyric acid and embryonic thermal manipulation on absolute and relative organs weight in broiler chickens
| Parameters | Treatments1) | SEM | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||
| CON | G10 | TM | G10+TM | |||
| Absolute weight (g) | ||||||
| Liver | 36.9ab | 41.2a | 35.6ab | 33.3b | 1.1 | 0.046 |
| Spleen | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.01 | 0.2 | 0.460 |
| Bursa | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 0.093 |
| Heart | 7.3 | 8.2 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 0.3 | 0.080 |
| Relative weight (%) | ||||||
| Liver | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 0.08 | 0.264 |
| Spleen | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.09 | 0.02 | 0.442 |
| Bursa | 0.13B | 0.17AB | 0.15B | 0.22A | 0.01 | 0.008 |
| Heart | 0.57 | 0.66 | 0.54 | 0.65 | 0.02 | 0.138 |
Values were obtained from n = 5 repetitions per treatment.
The treatments are described as follows: CON, control eggs without in ovo injection and incubated at standard temperature; G10, eggs injected at 17.5 days of incubation with 0.6 mL of 10% γ-aminobutyric acid dissolved in distilled water; TM, thermally manipulated eggs exposed to 39.6°C for 6 h daily from embryonic day 10 to 18; G10+TM, eggs that received both previous treatments during incubation. Chicks obtained were grown for 28 days.
Means in a row that possess different superscripts differ significantly (p<0.05).
Means in a row that possess different superscripts differ significantly (p<0.01).