Abstract
The growth productivity of broilers is influenced by improving growth performance through improving body weight, average daily gain, and feed conversion rate. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of quantitative feed restriction duration on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broilers. A total of 144 day-old broiler chicks were reared in a deep litter system until slaughter at 42 days. Chicks were randomly allocated to three treatments which were replicated three times with 16 birds per replicate. The three treatments were the control (T1), one week of feed restriction (T2), and two weeks of feed restriction (T3). Birds were fed with starter, grower and finisher diets. The average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were computed for each week. Carcass weight and internal organs weights were measured. The body weight gained by the birds in T1 was similar to the birds that were restricted for a week. The treatments had a significant effect on the average daily gain in weeks 4, 5, and 6. The ADG for T2 was higher (P ad libitum at week 4 at the start of the treatment. There was no significant effect on the relative weights of heart weights, liver, gizzard, feet, and heads among the treatment groups except for intestine weight which was lower (P
Highlights
IntroductionThe growth productivity of broilers is influenced by improving growth performance: body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion rate (FCR)
The growth productivity of broilers is influenced by improving growth performance through improving body weight, average daily gain, and feed conversion rate
The lowest body weight gain was observed from the birds in T3 which were kept under two weeks of feed restriction and had one week of sustaining before slaughter
Summary
The growth productivity of broilers is influenced by improving growth performance: body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion rate (FCR). The FCR is a major factor in reducing production costs and improving the broilers’ growth effectiveness. Feed cost represents about 70% of the cost of producing broilers [1]. The benefits of feed restriction are the monetary savings from raising feed conversion [2]. The main reason for controlling feed intake in broilers is to prevent wastage of feed. To address the issue of high mortality, body fat deposition, high incidence of metabolic diseases and skeletal disorders many strategies have been put forward, including feed restriction
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