Chick Length And Organ Development

Dr. Roos Molenaar M.Sc. and Dr. Inge Reijrink M.Sc.


A study of the Research department of HatchTech showed a positive relation between chick
length at day of hatch and chick weight at day 7. This suggests that a longer chick at day of
hatch has a higher development and growth potential than a shorter chick. Furthermore, a
longer compared to a shorter chick at hatch may have an improved organ development in later
life. To investigate this hypothesis, a study was conducted by the research department of
HatchTech.

Chicks of a breeder flock of 33 weeks old were selected. At day of hatch, chick length and chick
weight was measured of 60 birds and they were then divided in 3 chick length groups. The large
chick length group contained chicks with a length between 20.0-20.6 cm, the middle chick
length group between 19.2-19.8 cm, and the small chick length group between 18.2-18.8 cm. All
chicks were housed at a broiler farm of 9,000 birds and were fed a starter diet. At day 7 of age,body weight and organ weights were measured. Results showed that there was a positive relation between chick length at day of hatch and chick weight at day 7 (R=0.68; P<0.001). Every extra cm of chick length at day of hatch resulted on average in 17.8 gram extra chick weight at day 7 of age. There was hardly any residual yolk found after 7 days, the weights ranged between 0.03 and 0.32 g. Forty-two percent of the chickens in the large chick length group, 59% of the middle chick length group and 20% of the small chick length group had some residual yolk in the body cavity at day 7 of age. Chicks with the largest chick length at day of hatch had the heaviest heart, liver and spleen. The bursa of Fabricius and the intestine length showed no difference between the chick length groups (Table 1). The difference in heart and liver weight was not significant different between the large and middle chick length group, probably due to the small difference between the group in chick length.

The heart is an important organ for blood supply with oxygen and nutrients for the main organs.
The heart can contribute to an optimal development and growth of the chicks, which helps to
express the genetic potential of the bird. The liver and spleen are important organs as well for
the development and growth of the chick. The liver is the largest glandular organ of the bird and
has different important functions to maintain the homeostasis in the body. The spleen is a lymph
organ and part of the blood filtering system and contributes to the immune system.
The length of the intestines and the bursa of Fabricius was not related to chick length in this
study. The length of the intestine showed a lot of variation and was difficult to measure precisely
and this might be the cause that no difference was found.
It can be concluded that chick length is positive related to the chick weight and the development
of important organs such as the heart, liver and spleen. Chick length is, therefore, an important
chick quality and performance tool for hatcheries and broiler farmers.

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