ABSTRACT

Studies on wet feeding showed increase in feed intake and body weight gain in adult birds.

However, there is limited information on the beneficial effects of wet feeding on birds at a

younger age. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of wet feeding on the growth

performance of broiler chicks from 7 to 21 days of age. A broiler grower mash (23.8g/kg

crude protein and 12.6MJ/kg metabolisable energy) was formulated based on maize and

fishmeal for the study. Three treatments: dry mash only (control), wet mash (day) + dry mash

(night), and wet mash only were tested. The wet mash was prepared daily by addition of 1.3

parts of water to 1 part of dry mash. At 7 days of age 240 unsexed broiler chicks (Cobb) of

similar body weights were divided into 12 groups. Each group contained 20 birds with mean

live weight of 100g per bird. A completely randomized design was used. Each treatment was

replicated four times. Birds were housed in deep litter pens with floor space of 0.08 m2 per

bird from 7 to 21 days of age. Feed and water were given ad libitum. Heat and light were also

provided 24 hours. Data were collected on feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion

efficiency and mortality and analyzed by ANOVA using ‘Genstat’ (7th Edition). Mean daily

feed intake of birds fed wet + dry mash (34.00 g/bird) or wet mash only (31.74 g/bird) was

similar (P>0.05) to that of birds fed dry mash only (32.28 g/bird). However, mean live weight

at 21 days of age of birds fed wet + dry mash (370 g/bird) was higher (P=0.01) than that of

birds fed wet mash only (340 g/bird), but not different (P>0.05) from that of birds fed dry

mash only (360 g/bird). There were no significant (P>0.05) differences in gain/feed ratios

(0.505-0.562) of any of the treatments. There were no significant (P>0.05) differences in

mortality of all treatments. It was concluded that, wet feeding partly during the day had no

beneficial effect on growth performance of broiler chicks; while wet feeding throughout the

day had adverse effect on the growth performance of broiler chicks. It is recommended that

further research should be carried out using various water-to-feed ratios to investigate the

effects of wet feeding on the growth performance of broiler chicks. The water intake of the

birds should also be investigated.