Investigation of the effects of in ovo taurine injection on hatching characteristics and stress reduction potential

Abstract

Background: In ovo application is the process of administering some nutrients or com-ponents into the egg. The main purpose of this application is to ensure that somenutrients are provided to chicks with a short incubation period. Few studies wereconducted with taurine in fertile eggs; especially, no observation of hatchability andchick quality has been found. In addition, taurine has an anti-stress impact that fightsoxidative factors.Objective: To assess the hatchability and chick quality after in ovo taurine adminis-tration. To determine the stress that may occur as a result of in ovo application andwhether taurine has a stress-reducing effect.Methods: A total of 1200 fertile eggs from a 34-week-old broiler breeder (Ross 308)flock were categorized into 4 groups with 75 eggs per replicate: control (uninjected),taurine group (0.30 mL dissolved taurine in distilled water), sham control (steriledistilled water) and perforation (eggs perforated and then waxed). On day 14 of incuba-tion, an in ovo injection was administered to the albumen. Data on hatching parametersand hepatic HSP70 levels were obtained using relevant formulas and western blotting,respectively.Results: Control chicks exhibited higher hatchability than other groups, with the tau-rine group showing the lowest hatchability. The HSP70 levels were the highest in theperforation group compared to the control group. An increase of 21.37% in the taurinegroup and 83.45% in the sham control group was observed compared to the controlgroup.Conclusions: The findings suggest that in ovo application may induce increased stress,whereas taurine may have positive effects in mitigating the stress caused by in ovoapplication.