The appropriate time to improve day-old chick production and post-hatch growth through Moringa oleifera leaf extract inoculation into the hatching egg.

Moringa oleifera in feed post-hatch improves growth in early postnatal life. One may question the effects of Moringa oleifera after in ovo feeding. This study was carried out to determine the effect of different time periods of in ovo inoculation of Moringa oleifera leaves (MOL) extract on hatchability and juvenile growth performance. For the experiment, a total of 868 fertile broiler eggs identified by candling were used. They were randomly allotted to 7 groups with 124 eggs per group. Three groups were used for MOL extract inoculation at d 16, 17 and 18 (M groups). Further three groups were used for saline solution inoculation at d 16, 17 and 18 as positive controls (T groups) for those used for MOL extract inoculation. A negative control (T0) received no inoculation at all. The results showed that in ovo inoculation of MOL extract on d 18 of incubation significantly increased hatchability and reduced late embryonic mortality rate and hatching curve. In addition, MOL extract injection improved the percentage of day-old chicks with high quality as well as the average chick quality score (P < 0.05). Furthermore, post-hatch growth up to 7 days of age showed that the chicks hatched from eggs inoculated with MOL extracts on d 18 of incubation had significantly higher body weight gain than those injected on other days. It can be concluded that in ovo inoculation of MOL extract on d 18 of incubation into the air chamber provided the best strategy to improve hatchability, chick quality and post hatch growth of broiler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]