Influence of Early Quantitative Feed Restriction on Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens

An experiment was conducted to study the influence of early quantitative feed restriction on the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Two hundred 8-day-old commercial Avian male broiler chicks were assigned to four groups randomly, with 50 broilers each. At the age of 8 days the broilers were restricted to 90%, 80% or 70% of the ad libitum intake for 7 days. When the restricion was finished, all birds received feed ad libitum again. The results showed that diet restriction resulted in a reduction in body weight and daily gain during the restriction period (P 0.05). The birds restricted to 90% of the ad libitum intake showed the occurring of growth compensation in the 3rd week. The birds restricted to 80% and 70% of the ad libitum intake had growth compensation in the 4th week. No significant differences between the effects of the restriction and the control on final body weight, growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and carcass characteristics (P 0.05).