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The Role of Zinc in Poultry Breeder and Hen Nutrition: an Update

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Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace mineral in breeder hen diets and functions in diverse physiological processes, including reproduction, immunity, antioxidant ability, and epigenetic processes. In this paper, five main aspects of Zn nutrition in poultry breeder birds and hens, including semen quality, molting, egg production and egg quality, hatchability and embryonic development, and offspring performance, are reviewed. Zn deficiency in poultry breeder birds led to lower semen quality (reducing around 10% sperm motility) and egg production (lowering 3–10 g/day/bird egg mass) as well as poor offspring development and growth performance (increasing 9–10% weak chick ratio and 10% mortality of progeny). Adequate maternal or higher Zn supplementation was adopted not only to induce molting with a greater postmolt performance (rising 4–7% laying rate) but also to enhance progeny immune response and antioxidant ability via epigenetic mechanisms. Therefore, it is necessary to reevaluate the optimal Zn requirement for egg production as well as the embryonic development and offspring chick performance of breeder hens. In the last 10 years, greater attention has been focused on the effectiveness of organic Zn for improving the reproductive performance of breeders and progeny viability and immune status. In fact, organic Zn sources are not always beneficial to the above aspects. So far, it has been very important to know the exact mechanisms of greater bioavailability and the epigenetic role of organic Zn sources in the augmentation of immune status and antioxidant abilities in poultry breeder birds and offspring. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of these key points will not only aid in maintaining the beneficial effects of Zn nutrition for breeders and their progeny under stable conditions but will also support birds under stressful conditions such as disease as well as provide a better understanding of the integrated nutrition of breeder-offspring.

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Abbreviations

ALP:

alkaline phosphatase

AST:

aspartate amino transferase

ALT:

alanine transaminase

ATP:

adenosine triphosphate

Ca:

calcium

CA:

carbonic anhydrase

MT:

metallothioneins

CuZnSOD:

copper zinc superoxide dismutase

Zn:

zinc

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Funding

This review was sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31802080), Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation for Starting Ph.D (2017A030310398 and 2018A030310202), and National Waterfowl Industry Program in China (CARS-42-15).

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  1. Liang Huang and Xi Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Regulation, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China

    Liang Huang, Xi Li, Wence Wang, Lin Yang & Yongwen Zhu

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Contributions

LX researched and wrote the “Semen quality,” “Molting,” and “Egg production and egg quality” sections. HL researched and wrote the “Hatchability and embryonic development” and “Offspring performance” sections. YL and ZYW researched and wrote the Abstract, Introduction, and Conclusion sections. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lin Yang or Yongwen Zhu.

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Huang, L., Li, X., Wang, W. et al. The Role of Zinc in Poultry Breeder and Hen Nutrition: an Update. Biol Trace Elem Res 192, 308–318 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-1659-0

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