The demand for animal protein in Nigeria is so high that introduction of new management techniques to improve poultry production is relevant. This study investigated the effects of in ovo administration of arginine on hatching traits and post-hatch performance of FUNAAB-Alpha chickens in two housing types. A total of 528 hatching eggs of FUNAAB-Alpha chickens were used for the study for 11 weeks. Hatching eggs were sorted, balanced for weight and fumigated before setting in the incubator. On the 14th day of incubation 378 eggs were confirmed fertile and they were redistributed into 3 treatment groups (0, 11 and 22 mg of arginine/egg) each consisting 126 eggs, replicated 14 times (9 eggs per replicate). At the 18th day of incubation, in ovo injection of arginine was carried out and at the 21st day of incubation, resulting chicks were balanced for weight, assigned to treatments and assessed for post-hatch performance. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomised design. In the results, hatchability was 92.86% (control), 88.39% (injection with 11 mg of arginine) and 91.07% in birds resulting from in ovo injection of 22 mg of arginine. In ovo injection of 11 and 22 mg of arginine improved the development of duodenal villi in the birds. In ovo injection of 22 and 11 mg of arginine enhanced CMIR after 24 (0.300 mm) and 48 h (0.223 mm) of injecting phytohaemagglutinin type P (PHA-P) antigen. Birds on outdoor run had higher (0.282, 0.224 mm) CMIR after 24 and 48 h of injecting PHA-P relative to those raised in deep litter housing. Birds from in ovo injection of 22 mg of arginine had a significantly lowered daily feed intake (68.38 g/bird) relative to other treatments. Deep litter housing significantly (p < 0.05) improved daily weight gain (25.02 g/bird) of birds as against outdoor run (22.62 g/bird). It was concluded that in ovo injection of 11 or 22 mg of arginine numerically improved hatchability and cell-mediated immune response with enhanced duodenal villi development, while in ovo injection of 22 mg of arginine and raising resulting birds on outdoor run is suitable for achieving significantly lower feed intake with better feed conversion ratio in FUNAAB-Alpha chickens.

尼日利亚对动物蛋白的需求如此之高，以至于引入新的管理技术来改善家禽生产是有意义的。这项研究调查了卵精氨酸对两种房型中FUNAAB-Alpha鸡孵化性状和孵化后性能的影响。总共528只FUNAAB-Alpha鸡的孵化卵用于研究11周。在孵化器放置之前，对孵化的鸡蛋进行分类，重量平衡和熏蒸处理。在孵化的第14天，确认378个卵可育，并将它们重新分配到3个治疗组（精氨酸/鸡蛋分别为0、11和22 mg）中，每个组包含126个卵，重复14次（每个重复9个卵）。在孵化的第18天，卵内注射精氨酸，在孵化的第21天，产生的小鸡体重平衡，分配给处理并评估孵化后的性能。实验以完全随机的设计进行。结果，通过卵内注射22mg精氨酸导致的家禽的孵化率是92.86％（对照），88.39％（注射精氨酸11mg）和91.07％。在卵内注射11和22 mg的精氨酸可改善鸟类十二指肠绒毛的发育。在卵内注射P型植物血凝素（PHA-P）抗原24（0.300 mm）和48 h（0.223 mm）后，​​卵内注射22和11 mg精氨酸可增强CMIR。相对于深垫舍中饲养的鸡，在注射PHA-P后24和48 h，室外运行的鸡具有更高的（0.282，0.224 mm）CMIR。卵内注射22 mg精氨酸的鸟每天的采食量显着降低（68。38 g /只）。垃圾箱深度明显（p  <0.05）与室外跑步（22.62 g /只）相比，提高了鸟的日增重（25.02 g /只）。结论是在卵内注射11或22 mg精氨酸可提高孵化率和细胞介导的免疫反应，并增强十二指肠绒毛的发育；而在卵内注射22 mg精氨酸并在室外奔跑时饲养家禽则适合显着提高FUNAAB-Alpha鸡的采食量降低，饲料转化率更高。