SUMMARY Environmental factors, both positive and negative, experienced by breeder hens during their reproductive life, can have significant influence on the productive efficiency and health of their progeny. This is particularly important considering that commercial chicken meat birds spend a significant proportion of their life in ovo, and alteration to the in ovo environment can permanently ‘program’ progeny endocrine pathways. The maternal environment is greatly influenced by factors such as nutrition and stress, both of which play a significant role in the chicken meat breeder industry due to feed restriction practices, ranging from 25% to 80% ad libitum intake. The effects of nutrition and stress and their influence on the maternal environment have been extensively investigated in mammalian literature, primarily focusing on the development and function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) in offspring including the exposure of the stress hormone cortisol. Disruption of the HPA axis can inadvertently disrupt other important endocrine pathways, involved in growth and metabolism, including the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor I axis (GH/IGF-I) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT). The disruption or ‘reprogramming’ of metabolic endocrine axes through maternal influences has been linked to variations in progeny performance, including growth rate and body composition; however, the underlying physiological mechanisms responsible for these phenotypic differences still remain unclear, especially in poultry. The aim of this review is to assess current industry practices that may influence the maternal (breeder hen) environment, whilst reviewing the concept of developmental programming, and its application to chicken meat production.

中文翻译：

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鸟类母体环境：探索驱动后代性能的生理机制

总结 种母鸡在繁殖期所经历的正面和负面的环境因素，会对后代的生产效率和健康产生重大影响。考虑到商业鸡肉鸟类在卵内度过大部分生命，并且改变卵内环境可以永久“编程”后代内分泌途径，这一点尤为重要。母体环境受营养和压力等因素的影响很大，由于饲料限制措施，这两种因素在鸡肉饲养行业中都发挥着重要作用，从 25% 到 80% 的随意摄入量不等。营养和压力的影响及其对母体环境的影响已在哺乳动物文献中得到广泛研究，主要关注后代下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴 (HPA) 的发育和功能，包括应激激素皮质醇的暴露。HPA 轴的中断可能会无意中破坏其他重要的内分泌通路，包括生长激素-胰岛素样生长因子 I 轴 (GH/IGF-I) 和下丘脑-垂体-甲状腺轴 (HPT)，这些通路涉及生长和代谢。通过母体影响代谢内分泌轴的中断或“重新编程”与后代表现的变化有关，包括生长速度和身体成分；然而，导致这些表型差异的潜在生理机制仍不清楚，尤其是在家禽中。