Antimicrobial Use in On-Farm Hatching Systems vs. Traditional Hatching Systems: A Case Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Antimicrobial resistance is a worldwide problem that requires innovation on various fronts. In a traditional broiler hatchery system, hatched chicks remain in the incubator for between 24 and 48 h, after which the chicks are transported to poultry farms. During this period (up to 72 h), the chicks have no access to feed or water and are exposed to dust and pathogens. Research shows that feed and water deprivation has a negative impact on the development of the gastrointestinal and immune system of broilers. In an on-farm hatching system (NestBorn), eggs are transported to the broiler farm on day 18 of the incubation period, where the chicks have direct access to feed and water after hatching. This would result in better animal welfare, a healthier gastrointestinal system, and less antimicrobial use, among other things. This study compared antimicrobial use in 227 on-farm and 2244 traditionally hatched flocks. It found that on-farm hatched broilers had a lower antimicrobial treatment incidence and had more antimicrobial free flocks. The use of on-farm hatching also resulted in a 5.6 times lower probability of antimicrobial use. These results indicate that on-farm hatching may contribute substantially to the decrease in antimicrobial use in broilers and thereby could play an important role in the future of a more sustainable and ethical broiler production. ABSTRACT: On-farm hatching is a relatively new method in the broiler industry, in which fertilized broiler eggs are transported to the farms at the stage of 17–19 days of incubation. Once hatched, the broiler chicks have direct access to feed and water. Previous studies have shown on-farm hatching to increase animal welfare and intestinal development. However, no studies have yet aimed to quantify and compare the antimicrobial use in on-farm hatched flocks with that of traditionally hatched flocks. In this study, information on antimicrobial use (AMU) was collected from 211 Belgian conventional broiler farms, including data from 2244 traditionally hatched flocks and 227 on-farm (NestBorn) hatched flocks. On-farm hatched flocks had significantly (p < 0.001) more antimicrobial-free flocks (n = 109, 48.01%) compared to traditional flocks (n = 271, 12.08%) and a 44% lower (p < 0.01) treatment incidence (TI) at flock level (TI 8.40 vs. TI 15.13). Overall, the farms using traditional hatching had 5.6 times (95% CI 3.6–8.7) higher odds to use antimicrobials than the farms using on-farm hatching. Treated on-farm hatched flocks received three times less lincomycin-spectinomycin (linco-spectin) and less (routine) treatments at the start of the production round. However, both traditional and on-farm flocks experienced outbreaks later in the production round. These results show that on-farm hatching can contribute to the reduction in antimicrobial use in conventional broiler production.