Performance of Broilers Raised on Variants of the Three- Phase Feeding Regimes

Abstract

The performance of broilers raised on the three-phase feeding regimes in a fifty-six days production period was studied. The experiment was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) design consisting of four groups of twenty-four birds each. The groups were randomly assigned a control (T1) feeding regime (0 - 28 day starter and 29 - 56 day finisher) and variants of the three-phasefeedingregime asfollows;T2(0-7daysstarter,8-21daysgrowerand22-56daysfinisher);T3(0-14days starter, 15-35 days grower and 36-56 days finisher) and T4 (0 - 21 days starter, 22-35 days grower, and 36-56 days finisher). Results showed that the highest feed intake (5826.30 g) and final body weight (2689.40 g) were attained by the birds in T4, which weresignificantly(p<0.05)higherthanthevalues (2649.10gand5672.88g,respectively)recordedforbirdsinthecontrol(T1) group.Feedcost(N/kg)wassignificantly(p<0.05)higher(N159.00)inT1(control)thanothergroups(N154.00). Birdsonthe control(T1)recordedsignificantly(p<0.05)higherfeedcost/kgbodyweight(N346.62)thanothergroupsexceptforT4. Birdson the three-phase feeding regimes (T2, T3, T4) produced superior final body weight, body weight gain and feed cost per/kg body weight gain than the control (T1). Net income of broilers was highest in T2 which correspondingly produced the highest estimated profit. It is recommended that broilers that will be sold on weight basis could be more profitably produced on T2, a three-phase feeding regime with 0 - 7 days starter, 8-21 days grower and 22-56 days finisher diets.