In-ovo feeding: a review

Resumo

The poultry industry plays a large role in the Brazilian economy. In fact,
Brazil ranks as the world’s leading exporter and second largest producer of
poultry meat as the result of genetic improvement, animal nutrition,
management, and biosecurity. During the development of bird embryos, the
nutrients are stored within the egg, but carbohydrate supplementation is
unsatisfactory upon hatching. Poor carbohydrate supplementation can
damage the embryo development and negatively affect poultry weight. Inovo feeding is a promising technique to improve the quality of newly hatched
chicks as it uses systems for feeding the embryos by inoculating nutrients
into the egg amniotic fluid. However, further studies are needed in order to
improve this technique and create effective implementations and protocols
that can be widely used in the industry. This study aims to both review the
literature on the use of in-ovo feeding and understand the perspectives of
its use in the broiler production chain.