Effect of Sex, Level and Period of Feed Restriction During the Starter Stage on Productivity and Carcass Characteristics of Ross 308 Broiler Chickens in South Africa


Authors

  • D.J. Novele Department of Animal Production, University of Limpopo, P/B X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa
  • J.W. Ng`Ambi Department of Animal Production, University of Limpopo, P/B X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa
  • D. Norris Department of Animal Production, University of Limpopo, P/B X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa
  • C.A. Mbajiorgu Department of Animal Production, University of Limpopo, P/B X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2008.526.529

Keywords:

Carcass charecteristics, ross 308 broiler chickens, South Africa, strater stage feed restriction

Abstract

The effects of sex, level and period of feed restriction during the starter period on productivity and carcass characteristics of Ross 308 broiler chickens were evaluated. A 2 (male and female chickens) x 3 (feeding levels: Ad-libitum, 75% and 50% of ad libitum) x 3 (restriction periods of 5, 7 and 9 days) factorial arrangement in a complete randomized design was used. The effects of interactions were not included in the results because earlier analyses including all the interactions showed that they were not important. Level and period of feed restriction during the starter stage had an effect (P<0.05) on live weight of the chickens at 21 days of age. Chickens on 75% ad libitum feeding attained complete live weight compensation with those on Ad-libitum feeding at the age of 42 days. However, chickens on 50% ad libitum feeding did not ‘catch-up’ with those on ad libitum feeding. Differences due to the period of feed restriction during the starter stage were maintained up to the age of 42 days. Male chickens had higher (P<0.05) live weights at 42 days of age. Abdominal fat pad was not affected (P>0.05) by level and period of feed restriction and sex of chickens at 42 days of age.

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Published

2008-05-15

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 6 (2008)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

How to Cite

Novele, D., Ng`Ambi, J., Norris, D., & Mbajiorgu, C. (2008). Effect of Sex, Level and Period of Feed Restriction During the Starter Stage on Productivity and Carcass Characteristics of Ross 308 Broiler Chickens in South Africa. International Journal of Poultry Science, 7(6), 530–537. https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2008.526.529