The Role of Zinc in Poultry Breeder and Hen Nutrition: an Update

Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace mineral in breeder hen diets and functions in diverse physiological processes, including reproduction, immunity, antioxidant ability, and epigenetic processes. In this paper, five main aspects of Zn nutrition in poultry breeder birds and hens, including semen quality, molting, egg production and egg quality, hatchability and embryonic development, and offspring performance, are reviewed. Zn deficiency in poultry breeder birds led to lower semen quality (reducing around 10% sperm motility) and egg production (lowering 3-10 g/day/bird egg mass) as well as poor offspring development and growth performance (increasing 9-10% weak chick ratio and 10% mortality of progeny). Adequate maternal or higher Zn supplementation was adopted not only to induce molting with a greater postmolt performance (rising 4-7% laying rate) but also to enhance progeny immune response and antioxidant ability via epigenetic mechanisms. Therefore, it is necessary to reevaluate the optimal Zn requirement for egg production as well as the embryonic development and offspring chick performance of breeder hens. In the last 10 years, greater attention has been focused on the effectiveness of organic Zn for improving the reproductive performance of breeders and progeny viability and immune status. In fact, organic Zn sources are not always beneficial to the above aspects. So far, it has been very important to know the exact mechanisms of greater bioavailability and the epigenetic role of organic Zn sources in the augmentation of immune status and antioxidant abilities in poultry breeder birds and offspring. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of these key points will not only aid in maintaining the beneficial effects of Zn nutrition for breeders and their progeny under stable conditions but will also support birds under stressful conditions such as disease as well as provide a better understanding of the integrated nutrition of breeder-offspring.