combination
and 7 chicks per cage. Chicks had free access to
feed and water throughout the trial. Feed spills were
collected from the bottom of each cage and added back
to the feeder. The lighting program provided 23 h of artificial
light per day throughout the 16-d experimental
period. Room temperature was maintained at 32°C for
the first 3 d of the experiment and gradually reduced
until reaching 29°C at 16 d of age. All chicks were fed 1
kg of starter feed in crumble form from 1 to 16 d of age.