Initial cage group BW was collected at placement.
Feed intake by cage and individual BW were recorded
at 7 and 14 d of age. Individual BW uniformity was
expressed as the CV of BW. Birds were observed twice
daily, and mortalities were removed and weighed to include all BWs in the calculated FCR. At 7 d of age,
feeders were emptied and fresh feed was added. Feed remaining in each feeder 6 h later was collected. The particle size distribution of the mash diets remaining in the
feeders was determined by ASAE S319.3 (ASAE Standards,2003a). The remaining crumble diets were separated through a 2000μm sieve. Fines were considered
anything that passed through the sieve, while crumbles
were anything that that did not pass through the sieve.
Nitrogen content of fines and crumbles was determined
by the nitrogen combustion method (Method 990.03,
AOAC,2011). At 14 d of age all the birds in one room
were individually weighed and killed by cervical dislocation, and the gizzard was excised. The fat surrounding