Influence of in ovo Injection of Nano forms of Zinc, Copper and Chromium on Morphometry of Intestine and Immune Response in Broiler Chicken

The perinatal period is a most crucial time in the development of a young chick as this is a transitional period in which the chicks undergo metabolic and physiological shifts from the utilization of egg nutrients to exogenous feed. The in ovo feeding allows the delivery of various supplements directly to chicken embryos which enhances digestive capacity, growth rate, muscle development, feed conversion efficiency and immunity. Hence, the present study was aimed to examine the effect of in ovo injection of nano forms of zinc, copper and chromium on morphometry of digestive organs and immune response in broiler chicken. In this study, four hundred fertile broiler eggs from Cobb 430 flock were randomly divided into five treatment (80 eggs each) groups. First treatment was without injection (control), second was injectedwith0.5ml normal saline, third, fourth and fifth treatment eggs were injected with 40, 12 and 0.5 µg/egg of nano zinc, nano copper and nano chromium, respectively. After hatching, 240 day old straight run broiler chicks were allocated into five treatment groups each consisting of four replicates with twelve chicks and all birds were fed with broiler starter diet (1-21 days) and finisher diet (22-42 days) as per NRC (1994). In ovo feeding of nano forms of zinc, copper and chromium at18th day of incubation through amniotic route did not influence the growth performance of broiler chicken. However, better serum glucose, total protein and globulin levels were observed in nano trace mineral supplemented groups.