In total, 3,500 1-day-old LohmannBr

In total, 3,500 1-day-old Lohmann
Brown pullets (37.3 ± 1.27 g) were housed in an environmentally
controlled barn. Pullets were weighed individually
and randomly allotted in groups of 50 to 70
cages (40 x 80 x 68 cm; Facco, Padova, Italy) provided
with an open-trough feeder and 2 low-pressure nipple
drinkers. The average body weight (BW) of the pullets
was similar for all cages. Pullets were beak-trimmed
at the hatchery and kept on a 23 h/d light program
for the first week of life. Then, the light was decreased
2 h/wk until reaching 15 h/d at the end of the trial.
Barn temperature was maintained at 32 ± 1.5oC for
the first 3 d of life, and was reduced gradually until
reaching 21oC at the end of the trial. Because of the
dimensions of the cage only 22 pullets chosen at random
and remained in these cages after 21 d age. During
the rearing period, the pullets were managed and vaccinated
against main diseases (infectious bronchitis disease,
Marek disease, infectious bursal disease, Newcastle
disease, and Salmonella spp.) according to accepted
commercial practices.