The effect of various methods of additional feed application during the first days of rearing on broiler chickens performance

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of various methods of feed administration during the early days of meat-type chickens rearing on their livability and final performance under typical farm conditions. Day-old Ross 308 chicks were allocated to three experimental groups. During the first week of rearing, in group A (the control one) the feed mixture was administered only via automatic feeding line (2 cm of feeder edge length per chick). In groups B and C birds were provided with additional access to feed on the litter covered with grey corrugated paper or commercial chick paper (covered with wax layer), respectively. The birds were kept in pens of equal stock density, the area of paper constituted 30% of each pen area. Mortality cases and body weight of birds were registered. After 42 days birds were commercially slaughtered and 20 carcasses from each group were randomly chosen and subjected to simplified dissection. Feed administration on paper strips considerably improved liveability of birds during the first week of life. Mortality in group A mainly resulted from the fact that chicks did not begin ingesting the feed. The additional feeding of birds using cardboard or paper strips on the litter had positive effects on their gastrointestinal tract development and some production results. The grey corrugated cardboard seemed to be more effective in this respect.