Effect of restricted feeding on the growth performance of Koekoek chickens.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of restricted feeding on growth performance of Koekoek chickens. Two hundred and seventy Koekoek chickens were randomly allocated to four feeding treatments. The four treatments were AA (full feeding throughout the study), AR (full feeding for rearing and feed restriction for laying, RA (feed restriction for rearing and full feeding for laying phase) and RR (restricted feeding throughout the study). Feed restriction during the rearing phase (AA and AR) significantly (P<0.05) increased the final body weights and total weight gains of chickens. The feed intake was significantly higher in full-fed chickens. Unrestricted feeding during the rearing phase (AA and AR) significantly improved the average feed conversion ratio. During the laying phase, final body weights of chickens in RA treatment were significantly heavier compared to those in other treatments. Chickens in RA treatment gained (P<0.05) more weight followed by birds in AA, RR and AR treatments respectively. The chickens that were feed restricted only during the laying phase (RA) were significantly efficient in feed conversion. Therefore, it is concluded that early feed restriction is the best feeding management strategy. Key words: Full-fed, weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality rate