July 27, 2010

Circadian incubation to produce robust chicks

Circadian incubationâ„¢, designed with the help of aerospace technology, has the capability to contribute to better hatching, as well as improved broiler chick performance.

Modern poultry producers prefer birds that equally and efficiently grow to their ideal processing weight. Hatchery managers are therefore expected to produce large numbers of uniform, robust day-old chicks that can easily cope with the harsh conditions of the production environment.

The role of hatchery managers in maximising broiler performance is much bigger than one may think. Breeding companies have worked hard to create a bird that has the potential to grow efficiently and uniformly. The modern broiler is resistant to stressful conditions and uses only small amounts of nutrients for the maintenance of its basic physiological system. These efficiency traits, however, can only be activated with the help of new technologies present in modern single-stage incubators.

The concept of robustness was introduced by geneticists to describe the efficient, modern bird in more biological terms, and to include important traits for selection relating to animal health and welfare. Robustness is a health criterion that originates in embryonic life and correlates with growth and the resistance of the individual chicks under different farm conditions. A robust day-old chick, therefore, is expected to deliver predictable growth and production under different farm designs and fluctuating environmental conditions. Batches of robust day-old chicks show low mortality, need less medication, and have the potential for optimum growth even under varying farm conditions.

To support the development of robust day-old chicks, hatchery manufacturer Pas Reform introduced the principle of circadian incubation at VIV Europe 2010. This concept has been incorporated in their new range of SmartProâ„¢ incubators and is said to be the natural and progressive development of single-stage incubation.

"Circadian incubation includes embryonic 'training' or the imprinting of body functions during incubation to stimulate the chick's robustness during grow-out. This 'imprinting' is achieved by exposing the embryo to environmental triggers during critical periods of the maturation of physiological control systems," says Pas Reform CEO Bart Aangenendt. "Several scientific studies have shown that circadian incubation causes long-lasting alterations in the perinatal epigenetic programming of body functions."

Circadian incubationâ„¢ is a single-stage protocol that includes periodic stimulation by increasing temperature during certain sensitive periods of embryonic development. The term 'circadian' literally means 'about a day' as it derives from the latin ('circa'=about and 'dies'=day). Circadian thus refers to daily biological rhythms observed in most organisms, such as the day-night rhythm in body temperature. The biological rhythms, also called the circadian or biological clock, are essential for regulating the daily metabolic rhythm and other physiological functions. In contrast to nature, embryos hatched in a conventional incubator are not exposed to a daily rhythm. This changes when the Circadian incubationâ„¢ technique is implemented. Research by Dr Barbara Tzschentke of the Humbold University in Berlin has proven that triggering the embryo during critical incubation periods with heat or cold physiologically imprints the embryo so the chicken better thrives in the farm environment.