Breeder age affects small intestine development of broiler chicks with immediate or delayed access to feed

1. The relationship between breeder age and chick gastrointestinal tract development to 21 days of age, as influenced by immediate or delayed access to feed, was examined in three consecutive trials. 2. Ross 708 chicks, derived from breeder flocks at 31 (young), 40 (middle) and 63 (old) weeks of age were placed randomly into either a control group with immediate access to feed and water, or a 48 h feed delayed (FD) group with free access to water. 3. FD negatively affected body weight (BW) of chicks derived from young and old flocks through the first and second weeks of age, respectively. Chicks from the older flock absorbed more yolk in the first 48 h with no FD effect. When feed was made available, chicks from the FD group showed a large increase in small intestine weight relative to BW, surpassing (P < 0·05) the control groups across all breeder flock ages. 4. Morphological measurements in all intestinal sections had higher values in chicks derived from the middle age breeder flock. FD to newly hatched chicks from the young breeder flock shortened villi (P < 0·01), decreased crypt depth and villus surface area (P < 0·001) in the duodenum through the first week post hatch. 5. Crypt depths were maximised between 7 and 14 d post-hatch in chicks from young and old breeder flocks, but crypt depths in chicks from the middle aged flocks continued to deepen. 6. The increased crypt depth may augment the number of enterocytes available for villus growth, and facilitate longer villi and greater villus surface area, in chicks from the middle age flocks. Intestinal morphological variation was associated with breeder flock age, which accounted for differential growth in chicks derived from young, middle, and old aged breeder flocks.