Effects of Red and Blue Light during the Incubation of Turkey Eggs on Hatchability Performance and Expression Pattern of Some Myogenic Regulatory Genes

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of different light colors on hatching potential traits, including egg weight loss, scientific and commercial hatchability, mortality percentages, hatching wight as well as mRNA expression levels of some muscle growth marker genes (Myogenin, MyoD1, and FGF2) of pectoralis muscle in hatched and non-hatched non pipped Black Bronze turkey chicks. A total of 1500 hatching Black Bronze turkey eggs were assigned equally to three incubation treatment groups, namely dark (control group), red, and blue LED light (treated groups) for 25 days of the incubation period. Results indicated that colored lighting stimuli (red and blue) significantly affected hatching capability. This issue could also affect the expression of muscle growth marker genes in hatched and non-hatched non pipped turkey chicks. Incubation of turkey eggs under red or blue LED light showed an insignificant effect on mortality percentages. It can be concluded that the use of a red or blue light system during turkey eggs’ incubation could improve hatchability via upregulating the expression of muscle growth marker genes.