sured individually. Feed intake was adjusted for
mortality.
Feed samples were analyzed for nutrients.
Free-choice diet composition was calculated for
each week during the grower and finisher periods
based on the feed ingredients selected by the
birds. The nutrient composition was analyzed
for wk 7 (49–56 d) and 11 (77–83 d), representing
the beginning and end of the finisher period.
These small sample diets were based entirely on
bird selection and compounded solely for the
purpose of analysis.
During the last week of the trial, forage remaining
in the pens was measured. The forage
in the paddocks was predominantly bermudagrass
(Cynodon dactylon) and tall fescue (Festuca
arundinacea). Because the birds had outdoor
access in early autumn, the cool-season forage
tall fescue was the predominant forage. Square
frames (0.5 × 0.5 m) were positioned in 2 random
places in each paddock and forage within
the frame was cut to ground level. The forage
was dried in a 105°C oven [10] for 48 h and the
2 amounts were averaged for each paddock. No
attempt was made in this study to analyze nutrients
in the forage.
Indoor temperatures were recorded daily during
the trial. Birds were raised for 83 d and then
transported to a small processing plant where
they were commercially processed. Carcass
yield and parts yield were determined [11]. Skin
color was determined by a broiler color fan [12],
with a scale of 102 to 106 in which a higher category
was more yellow.
This one-factor experiment had a completely
randomized design with the experimental unit as
the pen. The t-test was used to analyze the weight
gain, feed conversion, and forage amount data.
The Chi-squared test was conducted to compare
the frequency of distribution among color categories
of FF and FC; SAS 9.2 [13] was used. Repeated
measures ANOVA with compound symmetry
variance-covariance structure of R-side
random effects (repeated measures) was used to
compare average weekly gain by pen. Analysis
was performed using the GLIMMIX procedure
of SAS [14]. Significance implies P < 0.05.