Effect of in ovo feeding of β‐hydroxy‐β‐methylbutyrate on hatchability, muscle growth and performance in prenatal and posthatch broilers

BACKGROUND β ‐Hydroxy‐ β ‐methylbutyrate (HMB) is the metabolite of leucine that plays an important role in muscle protein metabolism. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) of HMB at 7 days of incubation (DOI) via air cell or 18 DOI via amnion on hatchability, muscle growth and performance in prenatal and posthatch broilers. RESULTS IOF of HMB via air cell at 7 DOI increased hatchability by 4.34%...