Feed Restriction in Broiler Breeder Pullets: Skip-a-Day Versus Skip-Two-Days

Abstract

Effects were compared of two methods of feed restriction (skip-a-day, SAD, vs. skip-two-days, STD) during 4 to 22 wk of age on the development, uniformity, and subsequent performance of White Rock pullets. The pullets, housed in cages, consumed the same amount of feed in both treatments. Nevertheless, body weights of birds kept under the STD feeding regimen were significantly (P less than .01) lower. This difference was still significant (P less than .05) at 35 wk of age. Flock uniformity at 11 wk of age was significantly (P less than .05) higher in pullets kept on the STD feeding program. Plasma glucose and corticosterone levels in fasted pullets and corticosterone levels in fed birds at the age of 21 wk were not affected by feeding regimen. However, the increase in plasma glucose after feeding was significantly (P less than .05) higher in pullets on the STD feeding program. Plasma corticosterone levels were consistently, and at times significantly (P less than .05), higher in fasted birds. Laying of the first egg was significantly (P less than .05) delayed in hens previously kept on the STD feeding regimen. Rate of egg production and egg weights up to 35 wk of age were not affected by the method of feed restriction.

Growth Performance of Kasila Broiler Parent Stock Reared on Quantitative Feed Restriction under Bangladesh Condition

“…The uniformity of female birds over the period (8 to 22 weeks) were within the breeder's acceptable level (80% or above) except at 20th weeks of age. The highest uniformity was found at 8th week (99%) but Bartov et al (1988) found higher uniformity at 11th week. The lowest uniformity was found at 20th week (69%) but Savory et al (1996) found poor uniformity in female breeder at 22 week of age.…”

Intermittent fasting in chickens : Physiological mechanisms and welfare implications for broiler breeders

“…Broiler breeders are the parent stock of broiler chickens and are expected to live for 60-70 weeks rather than just five. In addition to the high mortality rates, ad libitum-fed breeder hens reach sexual maturity too early and too heavy, requiring feed restriction from an early age both to remain physically healthy and to produce acceptable numbers of settable eggs (Bartov et al, 1988;Bruggeman et al, 1999). At the same time, the level of feed restriction required to maintain healthy breeding stock promotes hunger and frustration which creates an animal welfare trade-off known as the broiler breeder paradox (Decuypere et al, 2010).…”

“…The use of intermittent fasting (IF), or "skip-a-day", in broiler breeder rearing is supposedly the most common feed restriction regimen used globally in chicken production and is widely acknowledged to increase flock uniformity by increasing portion sizes, and thus feeding times, which reduces the amount of competition over feed (Bartov et al, 1988;Bennett and Leeson, 1989;Mench, 2002;Morrissey et al, 2014). Intermittent fasting has mostly been used in the form of alternate-day fasting, although fewer fasting days per week have been suggested from a welfare perspective (Renema and Robinson, 2004) and the use of two consecutive fasting days has also been tested (Bartov et al, 1988;Katanbaf et al, 1989). Generally speaking, however, IF in this context refers to fasting for no more than one consecutive day 1-4 times per week.…”

“…Although the regular practice of daily restricted feeding leaves the animals without feed for at least 23 h, which would constitute a daily fasting challenge for mammals, chickens retain some food in their crop for at least 16 h after feeding (de Beer et al, 2008;Jones et al, 2004; Figure 3) and are thus not truly fasting in daily feeding regimens. Intermittent fasting leads to slower growth than daily feeding using equivalent feed amounts, and this has generally been attributed to inefficiencies in the metabolic processes of storing and re-mobilizing nutrients (Bartov et al, 1988;Leeson and Summers, 1985). This can be seen either as a drawback of IF as it leads to increased feeding costs to achieve target growth rates, or as a benefit as it can allow for a slight relaxation of feed restriction and may thus increase access to nutrients.…”

The Use of Diets Containing High Levels of Zinc for Controlling Early Growth in Female Broiler Chicks

“…The lighting regimen was 13 h lightll h dark. The chicks were fed a starter diet for breeder chicks (2,900 kcal/kg and 18.7% CP/kg) (Bartov et al, 1988), supplemented with 0.25% NaCl, and whose mineral mix supplied 50 mg Zn/kg diet. At the age of 1 wk, two-thirds of the chicks (those closest to the average weight) in Experiments 1 and 2, and all of them in Experiment 3, were wing-banded and divided into groups of 10 chicks each.…”