EFFECT OF EARLY FEED RESTRICTION ON BROILER PERFORMANCE, BLOOD AND CARCASS PARAMETERS UNDER SUMMER CONDITIONS.

This research work was designed to study early feed restriction effects on broiler production during Egyptian summer. One hundred ninety eight unsexed Cobb-500 broiler chickens were divided to six experimental treatments with three equal replications. All chicks were free fed starter diet during the first week. In the second week, the chicks in the control group were fed the starter diet ad libitum, but feed intake of the other experimental groups were restricted at levels of 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40%, respectively from the feed intake of the control group. At 2 weeks of age, one bird from each replicate was sacrificed to obtain blood samples. All the experimental chicks were free fed basal grower diet from 14 to 42 days-old. Broiler performance was evaluated by live weight, feed consumed and feed conversion. Carcass parameters and some blood constituents were also measured. The current results showed that feed restriction improved the marketing live body weight, feed utilization and economical efficiency of treated broiler chicks, with no negative effect on either carcass traits or blood parameters. It could be concluded that early feed restriction during the second week of life up to 35% of ad libitum feeding can enhance the marketing weight and improve the feed conversion of broilers as compared to the control treatment under summer conditions in Egypt.