When male and female broilers are grown separately there may be an opportunity to increase profitability
by using different feeding programs for each sex. The most practical method is to use the same feeds
for both sexes, but shorten the feeding period of Grower and Finisher fed to the females. It is highly
recommended that the amount or duration of Starter feed is kept the same for both sexes to ensure proper
early development.
Feed Form and Physical Feed Quality
Broiler growth is the result of dietary nutrient content and feed intake. Feed intake is affected by feed form.
The best feed intake occurs on good quality crumble, mini-pellets or pellets. Feed which has an uneven
particle size may increase feed wastage since the smaller particles easily fall from the birds’ beaks –
especially in birds provided with constant access to feed. Chicks consuming higher levels of fines (particles
below 1 mm in size) or mash feed will waste more feed. Feed spillage and wastage will substantially reduce
feed efficiency.
Starter feeds, and often the first delivery of Grower feeds, are usually fed as crumble or mini-pellets.
Subsequent feeds are usually fed as pellets. Further details on the characteristics of these feed textures are
provided in Table 6, and Figure 18 illustrates what good quality feed textures should look like.
Provision of Feed and Water
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