Effect of in ovo administration of butyric acid into broiler breeder eggs on chicken small intestine pH and morphology

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate effects of in ovo butyric acid (BA) administration into broiler eggs on chicken small intestine pH and morphology. 480 fertile eggs were obtained from Ross broiler breeder (45 wk) and divided into 3 treatments with 4 replicate and 160 eggs per treatment. On the 18th day of incubation, 1 ml of in ovo solution was injected into amniotic fluid. Treatments were including 0.3 % BA solution, 0.9 % NaCl solution and control group. For pH and intestinal morphometric examination, 4 chicks per replicate were euthanized. The results showed that effect of BA injection on jejunum (p < 0.01) and ileum pH (p <0.05) on hatch day was significant. Jejunum villi height increased (p < 0.05) on the 7th day compared with the control group. The highest ileum villi was observed following the BA injection (p < 0.01). It can be concluded that BA injection affects small intestine morphology and increases body weight of chicks.