Effect of early feed restriction on body weight and compensatory growth in Label Rouge broiler chickens

Abstract

This research was conducted to assess the compensatory gain in birds that have suffered severe food restriction and a reduced growth in its initial phase. A total of 144 birds were used in the Label Rouge lineage with average initial weight 239.90 ± 76.80 g, from 28 to 49 days. The experimental design used was a completely randomized design, where the birds were distributed in 18 boxes, containing 3 treatments and 6 replicates of 8 birds per cage. The treatments were as follows: birds with body weight of 150.73 ± 12.62 g, between weighing from 239.79 ± 13.14 g and heavy weight of 329.17 ± 24.89 g in different periods, from 28 to 35, 35 to 42 and 42 to 49 days of age, respectively. In relation to weight gain, the heavy birds, obtained better results when compared to the other. The feed consumption has changed in the three periods and, in the period of 42 to 49 days, the treatments did not differ among themselves. Feed conversion rates (p = 0.127) and feasibility (p = 0.6163) of birds do not differ in different periods.