Response of Broiler Chicks to in ovo Injection of Calcium, Phosphorus, and Vitamin D Complex (CaDPhos)

Abstract

The effect of in ovo injection (IOI) of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D complex (CaDPhos) was studied on post-hatch bone parameters and broiler chicks performance. Fertilized eggs (n=480) were distributed into 4 groups of 120 eggs. On 1^st day of incubation, two groups were used as sham control (injected with 0.5 mL physiology serum) (T1) and un-injected control (T2). The other 2 groups were injected with 0.5 mL of 50 or 100% CaDPhos complex/egg (T3 and T4, respectively). The hatched chicks from each group were randomly assigned to 4 replications of 20 chicks and reared similarly. The hatchability percentage and body weight of hatched chicks was greater for T4 compared with other treatments (P<0.05), although had no significant differences with T3. Moreover, alkaline phosphatase activity was greater for T4 chicks at d 1 and for T3 and T4 at d 42 compared to other treatments (P<0.05). The broiler chicks with IOI of CaDPhos complex have significantly higher bone dry matter, P, and Cu concentration at d 1, as well as bone Ca and P concentrations at d 21 of rather both controls (P<0.05), whereas, the lowest bone dry matter was obtained for T2 (P<0.05). The results indicated that T3 and T4 increased feed intake of broiler chicks from d 1 to 21 (P<0.05). These preliminary results suggest that growth and maturation of bone cells may be accelerated through IOI of CaDPhos complex at levels of 50% or 100%/egg on 1-d of incubation.