Abstract
Three dietary regimens were used in which feed was withheld for 0 hr (1-7 weeks), 5 hr (3-6 weeks) and 10 hr(3-5 weeks) from male or female broilers during the experimental period. Each treatment replicated 5 times (cages) and each rage had 10 birds (total 300 birds).
Restriction programmes, failed to control the feed intake of the broiler males which resulted in a significant increase of body weight, while with ad lib. females performed better due to lower feed intake. No evidence of compensation was observed in this study. Differences among restriction programmes or phenotypic features were not significant. Economical data showed that regardless of the restriction programme used, it was mom profitable to raise broiler males than females.
It is concluded that feed restriction (3 to 5 or 6 weeks) may not be a good method to improve productivity and profitability of broilers. However, raising males alone in cages may be of some benefit