Advancing Embryonic Growth through Genetic Stimulation to Enhance Development in Chicken Embryos

Embryonic dormancy, a common issue during critical stages of development, leads to halted or slowed growth, negatively impacting the viability and weight of chicks. This study aims to reduce or eliminate this dormancy by using targeted genetic stimulation to enhance embryonic development. The study was conducted at the hatchery affiliated with the Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Anbar, with the objective of investigating embryonic dormancy at different developmental stages and improving overall efficacy. A total of 720 eggs from the Rose 308 breed were used the experiment was divided into six treatments, each replicated three times, across two incubators. The following treatments were applied: T1 (negative control, no injection), T2 (positive control, injection with distilled water), T3 (injection of siRNA targeting the SERPINA6 gene on day 3 of incubation), T4 (injection of siRNA targeting the SERPINA6 gene on day 7 of incubation), T5 (injection of siRNA targeting the SERPINA6 gene on day 14 of incubation), and T6 (injection of siRNA targeting the SERPINA6 gene on day 17 of incubation). The findings showed that the sixth treatment (T6) had a notably positive impact on embryo development characteristics when compared to the other treatments, including increased embryo weight and length, improved yolk and albumin consumption, and a significant increase in shell thickness (P ≤ 0.05). The findings suggest that using natural stimuli, such as siRNA, can effectively improve embryo development and increase chick weight at hatching.