Chick Quality Score
Chick quality score (0 to 100) was negatively affected by parental flock age (P < 0.001; Figure 4). Chicks from
young breeders scored on average 3.56 ± 1 higher than
chicks from old breeders. Most common abnormalities
were navels that were not completely closed but not discolored (67% of the chicks) and a small amount of residual yolk in the navel opening (32% of the chicks). No abnormalities were found in chicks’ activity, legs, or yolk retracted/swallowed. For chick quality, no effect was found for transportation duration, nor was there an interaction between transportation duration and age of breeders.