Effect of feed restriction method during rearing on growth and blood indices of stress in broiler breeder R.VAKILI 1*, F. AKBAROGLI 2 1
Faculty/ Department of Animal Science, Islamic Azad University branch of Kashmar-Iran,
2
Ph.D student of Rural Planning, Ferdowsi University,Mashhad-Iran
* Email:
[email protected] Feed restriction has become a common practice among poultry breeders in order to limit the body weight of breeding birds at sexual maturity and prevent over stimulation of the ovary. Some typical feed restriction methods for broiler breeders are every day, five days a week, six days a week and skip-a-day. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of four feed restriction methods (every day, five days a week, six days a week and skip-a-day) in the rearing of broiler breeders on growth, metabolic status and blood indices of stress. One hundred sixty 1 day old Lohman female chicks were housed in an windowless house . Chicks were raised in floor pens littered with wood shavings .For the first 2 weeks of life, food and water provided ad libitum. At the age of 3 weeks chicks were randomly divided into 4 feeding groups, 40 individuals per group (four replicates with 10 individuals per replicate). Upon arrival, birds were weighed, wing-banded, and fed according to Lohman Breeder Manual until 22 wk of age.Effects were compared of four methods of feed restriction during 3 to 22 wk of age on the body weight, uniformity and blood indices of stress pullets. The results showed that body weight, body weight uniformity and feed efficiency in fasted pullets at the age of 22 wk were not affected by feeding regimen. However, pullets treated by skip-a-day feed restriction compared with other treatments reduced body weight and feed efficiency and increased plasma cholesterol (P
