The effects of hen age on the mobilization of egg nutrients by embryos of broiler chicken injected in ovo with ubiquinone or L-carnitine
The effects of hen age (230, 270 and 320 days) on the mobilization of egg nutrients by embryos of Smena-9 broiler chicken injected in ovo with ubiquinone (coenzyme Q10) or L-carnitine (2 μg per egg for treatments 3 and 4, respectively) were studied on 4 treatments of livable 17-day embryos; control treatment 1 was not injected, control treatment 2 was injected with normal saline. Injection of ubiquinone decreased hatchability of eggs (by 1.3-4.1% in compare to non-injected control) and absolute and relative (to initial egg weight) weights of hatched chicks. Injection of L-carnitine did not affect the eggs from 230- and 270-day hens though increased hatchability of eggs from 320-day hens by 3.6% in compare to non-injected control; protein content in the body of hatched chicks in this treatment was higher by 2.8% in compare to control while lipid content remained at the level of control.