Intra-amniotic injection of L-carnitine reveals age-related effects on tissue total antioxidant status and increases plasma testosterone levels in male broiler chicks

Table 1 The effect of in ovo L-carnitine injection on hatching performance and post-hatch growth performance

	IO L-car treatment
	C	IOPW	IOPW + L-car	Prob > χ²
Hatching performance
Fertility rate, %	94.45	95.52	95.18	0.841
Hatchability %	87.73	88.14	86.89	0.445
Early embryonic dead, from 1 to 5 day %	5.53	5.12	5.63	0.663
Mid embryonic dead, from 6 to 14 day %	2.23	1.19	1.32	0.291
Late embryonic dead, from 15 to 21 day %	2.10	2.54	2.29	0.354
Non-pipped dead at hatching, %	2.44	3.01	3.89	0.286
Total embryonic mortality %	12.27	11.86	13.11	0.445
Post-hatch growth performance
Mortality rate %	-	1.55	-	0.312
Body weight gain, from 0 to 7 day, g	25.28	23.71	24.57	0.245
Feed consumption, from 0 to 7 day, g	22.11B	20.83C	25.28A	0.089
Feed conversion rate, from 0 to 7 day	1.45	1.20	1.46	0.176

^ABC Different superscript means differ significantly p < 0.05
C: Control, non—injection group; IOPW: In ovo pure water injection group; IOPW + L-car: In ovo L-carnitine injection group added pure water

ISSN: 1746-6148