Modeling Broiler Growth with Neural Networks Using Simulated Data. Processing, Products, and Food Safety: Processing and Products

to serve as a reference point for this study. All tissue samples were weighed and sub-sampled for glycogen analysis. Liver glycogen (3.1 mg/g liver or 2.8 mg total) and breast glycogen (2.3 mg/g, 3.7 mg total) were 2 and 1.2 times higher, respectively, in the winter than in the summer (P<0.0001). Only during the winter did hatch time affect glycogen status. Total glycogen levels in liver and breast were 3.4 and 1.3 times higher, respectively, among poults hatched at 648 h than those hatched at 636, 660 or 672 h. Post-hatch holding played a signifi cant role in the recovery of glycogen in breast muscle in winter and in liver glycogen in summer, however total breast glycogen decreased 1.35 fold during the holding period in the summer. These results demonstrate that hatch time and season infl uence glycogen reserves, possibly affecting early poult survival.