Chick'Tip: Early monitoring of chick quality for more sustainable poultry production

This issue brings together publications relating to the French agricultural and rural development programmes (PNDAR). These projects are funded by the Compte d'affectation développement agricole et rural (CASDAR) 2017. ; International audience ; The quality of the egg to be hatched and its pre-and post-incubation/hatching environment are parameters that influence both the development of the embryo and the quality and growth of the chick. Chick quality is a complex concept that is currently assessed using visual indicators. It is therefore often subjective and time-consuming, and is therefore rarely used by farmers. Nevertheless, this stage remains important for early detection or anticipation of problems and for acting as quickly as possible to ensure a good start and good performan7ce from the flock. The CHICK'TIP project, led by ITAVI with INRAE and SYSAAF, was set up to address this issue. It has helped to identify new indicators and biomarkers (and associated assessment methods) that can reflect chick quality and subsequent performance, with the aim of proposing tools for those involved in selection, hatching and rearing.