Effect of Different Nutrient-Restriction Programs Early in Life on Broiler Performance and Abdominal Fat Content

Abstract

Restricting nutrients during early life has been suggested as a means of reducing the deposition of abdominal fat in broilers. However, this procedure should be done without sacrificing overall performance. Three experiments were conducted in order to compare the effects produced by different means of early-life nutrient restriction on the performance of broilers and on abdominal-fat deposition. The treatments consisted of: providing feed for ad libitum consumption (control); fasting for 1, 2, or 3 days starting at 5 days of age; restricting feed intake to a maintenance level, calculated for 6 days of age and fed for 6 or 12 days; using a 1:1 dilution, by weight, of the standard diet with inert filler; and providing a 15% feather-meal diet. Weights by sex and feed consumption per pen were obtained at 5, 17, 35, and 49 days of age in Experiments 1 and 2 and at 21, 42, and 49 days of age in Experiment 3. The samples were processed in order to determine the content of abdominal fat.The different restriction programs had inconsistent effects concerning the parameters measured. Feed efficiency was generally improved by nutrient restriction; but programs that reduced abdominal fat also reduced body weight. A compensatory gain was not observed consistently in the experiments.