Effect of Restricted Feed Intake on the Growth of Muscle and the Fat Deposition in Broiler Chickens.

Abstract

The present experiment was designed to investigate the effects of long lasting restricted feeding on the muscular growth and the fat deposition in broiler chicken during the age of 1 to 50 days by setting three groups: ad libitum feeding (100F), 20% reduction of 100F (80F) and 40% reduction of 100F (60F).In this experiment, muscular growth of forelimb, body stem and hind leg were considerably reduced by the restricted feeding depending on the degree of feed reduction in order of 100F, 80F and 60F groups. However, the relative weight of muscle to empty skinned carcass (ESC) weight was independent of restricted feeding. On the other hand, fat deposition including abdominal, intermuscular and other parts of the body was inhibited by the restriction of feed intake, depending on the degree of feed restriction. The restricted feeding remarkably influenced the deposition of abdominal fat. The relative weight of fat to ESC weight was noticeably affected by the restricted feeding, denoting larger values of inhibition for larger restriction of diet. In conclusion, these results suggest that under the condition of the present experiment, muscular growth and fat deposition in broiler chickens were considerably affected by the restricted feeding, but ratio of muscular weight to body weight was not so easily influenced by the feed restriction, while that of fat deposition was clearly controlled by the restricted feeding.