Effect of in ovo feeding of arginine and/or tryptophan on hatchability and small intestinal morphology in broiler chicken

Early access to feed acts as a stimulant for functional development of chicken gut. The present study evaluates the in ovo supplementation of amino acids at 18 day (d) of incubation onthe morphological development of the intestinal mucosa in Cobb 400 broiler. A total of 700 fertile eggs with uniform egg weight (68±0.1 g) were sorted out and divided into five treatment groups (control, sham control, arginine, tryptophan, and combination of arginine and tryptophan). At hatch, 540 chicks were randomly selected(108 birds in each treatment)with six replicates of 18 birds each. There was no variation in per cent hatchability among treatment and control groups. Arginine injected group had higher chick weight. In ovo fed combination group showed highest intestinal length followed by tryptophan and arginine on 4^th day. With regards to duodenal and ileal length, the combination group showed the longest followed by arginine and tryptophan groups. There was significant difference induodenal (P<0.01) and ileal villous height (P<0.05) in in ovo fed combination followed by arginine and tryptophan groups on 4^th and 21^st day respectively. On 35^th day, duodenal villous height and mid villous width differ significantly (P<0.01) amongin ovo fed and control groups. So it is concluded that in ovo feeding of arginine and/or tryptophan stimulates intestinal development in early period, thus influences later growth and marketing weight.