Performance of female broiler breeders submitted to different feeding schedules

Abstract

The performance of Arbor Acres broiler breeders (1,296 females; 144 roosters) was evaluated when submitted to the following treatments (T): T1 = feeding at 6:30 a.m. (control); T2 = 50% feeding at 6:30 a.m. and 50% at 3:30 p.m. (dual feeding); T3 = feeding at 11:00 a.m.; and T4 = feeding at 3:30 p.m. Treatments were randomly distributed in 48 pens. There were 27 females and 3 males in each pen and 12 repetitions per treatment. Nutrition and management were as recommended for the commercial strain. It was evaluated age at first egg (AFE), total egg production (TEP), number of days with production above 80% (DAP80), laying peak (P), female mortality (MOR), and gross profit margin (GM) per hen. Data were submitted to analysis of variance and means were compared by Students t-Test. TEP of T1 (186.3±2.3) and T2 (186.5±1.5) were higher (p<0.05) than that of other treatments. TEP of T3 (177.2±2) was the smallest (p<0.05), probably due to the less significant values of DAP80 (18.9±6.0 days) and P (81.36±0.95%). AFE was earlier (p<0.05) in T2 birds. Mortality was similar (p>0.10) among treatments. GM per hen was better (p<0.05) in T1 and T2 hens. Control and dual treatments were more efficient than other treatments. It was concluded that it is possible to change conventional feeding managements by the dual feeding system.

The effect of different feeding schedules on egg quality, blood, and bone parameters in broiler breeders

“…However, in the other weeks evaluated, the different schedule feeding did not influence egg production. In the same way, Avila et al (2003a) did not observe a difference in the total egg production through 66 weeks of age between broiler breeders fed once or twice a day. Moreover, the egg production results were reported by Harms (1991), which changed the time of feeding in broiler breeder hens from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, verifying a significant reduction in their egg production.…”

Effect of the Time of Feeding on the Reproductive and Productive Performance of Dandarawi Chicken Under the Prevailing Subtropical Climatic Conditions in Assiut

“…Also, the overall means of EW, HDP, EN and EM of the T group exceeded, significantly (P≤0.05), those of the C group (Table 4). These results are in agreement with those reported by Mongin and Sauveur (1974), Hassan et al (2003), Avila et al (2003b), and Ndubuisi, et al (2008), who reported higher egg production for birds fed in late hours of the day. These results remarkably revealed the adverse effects of feeding birds during the hottest part of the day on the egg production performance (the control group) are in agreement with the findings of Wilson et al (1989), which indicated that the time of feeding is a factor that may result in heat stress, due to the heat increment from exothermic reactions that occur during feed metabolism.…”

Changing Lighting and Feeding Time to Alleviate the Deleterious Effect of Hot Assiut Summer on Performance of Japanese Quail

“…Heat production increased after 3 to 5 hrs of feeding. This is associated with about +1°C rise in body temperature (Cave, 1981;Leeson andSummers, 2000, andAvila et al, 2003a). Also, Wiernusz and Teeter (1993) and Koh et al (2000) observed that heat production and body temperature increased with feed consumption.…”