Growth Performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens reared under three different types of feeding programme

Abstract

A 56-day multi-phase feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the possible benefits over double-phase feeding commercially adopted for broiler production in Nigeria. Ninety (90) day-old Arbor Acre broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three phase-feeding programmes; four-phase feeding (FPF), three-phase feeding (TPF) and conventional double-phase feeding (DPF) in a completely randomized design experiment. FPF consisted of 23, 20, 18 and 16% crude protein fed to a group of broiler chicks at weeks 0-2, 2-4, 4-6 and 6-8 of age respectively. TPF had 23, 20 and 18% crude protein fed to another group of broiler chicks at weeks 0-3, 3-6 and 6-8 of age respectively. DPF had 23 and 20 % crude protein fed to the third group of broiler chicks at 0-4 and 4-8 weeks respectively. At the end of the feeding trial, 15 birds per treatment were randomly selected for carcass characteristics. Results showed that significant (P<0.05) variations existed in the average final live weight, feed conversion ratio, cost/kg feed, and cost of feed/kg live weight gain across the feeding phases. Of all the carcass parameters evaluated only the wings and breast were significantly (P<0.05) different among the treatments. It was concluded that four-phase feeding and three-phase feeding were superior to the conventional double-phase feeding in terms of cost/kg feed and cost of feed/kg weight gain. However, the three-phase feeding programme may be adopted for optimum returns in broiler production.