Natural antioxidants in hens' embryogenesis and antistress defense in postnatal development (review)

Evidence is accumulating indicating that a maternal diet can have a profound effect on the hatching egg quality and health status, growth and development of newly hatched chick. Several points are important to outline. Maternal diet determines chicken development during egg incubation and for the first few days post-hatch. Vitamin E and carotenoids accumulation in the chicken liver during embryonic development is considered as an adaptive mechanism to deal with stress conditions of the hatching process. In postnatal development a strategy of antioxidant defence is changed from antioxidant accumulation to the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes with more sophisticated and effective regulation at the gene level. Immune and digestive systems of the chicken are not mature at hatch and are actively developing during first 2 weeks post-hatch and are at risk of oxidative stress and need effective antioxidant protection. Increased vitamin E/carotenoid/Se supplementation of the maternal diet is proven to be beneficial for the embryonic and early postnatal development of the chick. However, maternal dietary manipulation is not able to prevent oxidative stress in early postnatal development and there is a need to address this issue. Therefore, a new antistress composition provided with drinking water is developed and successfully tested in commercial conditions of Ukraine and Russia.