~ 1351 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2018; 6(6): 1351-1354 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2018; 6(6): 1351-1354 © 2018 IJCS Received: 21-09-2018 Accepted: 24-10-2018 Chandiranathan T Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Pasupathi Karu Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Valli C Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Om Prakash AV Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Correspondence Pasupathi Karu Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India In Ovo feeding in poultry: A review Chandiranathan T, Pasupathi Karu, Valli C and Om Prakash AV Abstract In ovo supplementation of nutrients is a technique to enhance the productivity of broiler chickens. Currently, more focus is being given to research works on in ovo supplementation of nutrients to augment hatchability and increase market weight at early age in broilers. Literatures pertaining to in ovo supplementation of nutrients are reviewed hereunder. Keywords: In ovo, poultry, supplementation Introduction In Ovo Feeding The first in ovo delivery of exogenous material was reported in 1980’s for vaccination against Marek’s disease (Sharma and Burmester, 1982) [41] . Uni and Ferket (2003) [19] invented and patented the concept of administrating a nutritive solution into the amniotic fluid so as to feed supplemental nutrients to the embryo which consumes the amniotic fluid prior to hatch (Romanoff, 1967) [32] . Therefore, delivering essential nutrients into the embryo intestine can be made possible by the addition of a nutrient solution to the embryonic amniotic fluid. Injected substances can be actively or passively ingested by the embryo via the amniotic fluid and can be subsequently absorbed into various organs prior to hatch (Jochemsen and Jeurissen, 2002; Uni et al., 2005) [21, 47] . The in ovo feeding solution can be prepared with many potential nutrient supplements. The administration of nutrients into hatching eggs is called in ovo feeding (Uni et al., 2005) [21] . This in ovo feeding may 'jump-start' development, improving the nutritional status of the perinatal chick or poult (Ferket, 2011) [11] . Significance of In ovo Feeding The nutrient content of the hatching egg influences the development and growth of embryos during incubation and the post-hatch performance of chicks (Al-Murrani, 1982; Shafey et al., 2013) [2, 39] . The growth performance and meat yield of commercial poultry has improved linearly each year with greater input efficiency (Havenstein et al., 2003) [19] . As the time it takes for meat birds to achieve market size decreases, the period of embryonic development becomes a greater proportion of a bird’s life. Today, the 21 day incubation period and the 10 day post-hatch period of the chick composes about 50 per cent of a 2 kg broiler’s life span, consequently early survival problems will increase as the poultry industry moves toward more fast-growing strains (Foye et al., 2006a) [12] . In ovo feeding technology has established a new science of perinatal nutrition that will open opportunities for greater production efficiency (Ferket, 2011) [11] . Hamadani et al. (2013) [18] reviewed that in ovo feeding is expected to yield several advantages, among them reduced post hatch mortality and morbidity; greater efficiency of feed-nutrient utilization at an early age; improved immune response to enteric antigens; reduced incidence of developmental skeletal disorders; improved hatchability; increased muscle development and breast-meat yield and finally shortened the period required to reach target market weight. These benefits will ultimately reduce the production cost per kg of the consumable poultry meat. In ovo feeding in different species of poultry In ovo feeding has been carried out in broiler chicken to a large extent (Bhanja et al., 2015; Kita et al., 2015; Oliveira et al., 2015) [4] . In ovo supplementation of nutrients has also been studied in ducks (Tangara et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2011; Selim et al., 2012; Gaafar et al., 2013) [14, 27, 38, 44] , in turkeys (Gore and Quershi, 1997; Coles et al.,