Four hundred eighty Ross × Ross 308 male
broiler chicks were obtained from a commercial
hatchery [12] and distributed equally across 40
floor pens so that each treatment was replicated
10 times, with 12 broilers in each pen (0.09 m2bird).
Each pen (replication) was an experimental
unit (n = 10 for each treatment), with 8 broilers
(subsamples and observational units) being randomly selected from each pen and used for various meat quality measurements. The experimental units were consistent for all measurements,
but different numbers of subsamples were used
to evaluate live performance, carcass traits, and
the different meat quality measurements.