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Changing Time of Feeding Starter, Grower, and Finisher Diets for Broilers 3.
Birds Grown to 3.3 kg1

Article  in  The Journal of Applied Poultry Research · September 1997

DOI: 10.1093/japr/6.3.290

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81997 Applied Poultry Science, Inc.

CHANGING TIME OF FEEDING

STARTER, GROWER,AND FINISHER
DIETSFOR BROILERS
3. BIRDSGROWN TO 3.3 KG'

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E. A. SALEH, S. E. WATKINS, and I!M! W A L D R O d
Poultry Science Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (501) 575-2065
FAX: (501) 575-3474

Primary Audience: Nutritionists, Production Managers, Researchers

weights has been reduced, leading to shorter

OF PROBLEM
DESCRIPTION durations of feeding various diets [l]. In a
Producers commonly provide various
diets throughout the growing cycle of broiler
chickens, typically reducing the protein con-
tent and increasing the energy content as the
bird ages. Because the cost of feed generally
declines as the protein content is reduced,
the optimum time for changing diets is of
economic importance. Due to genetic im-
provements, the time required to reach market
recent survey of nutritional management
needs of broilers, the Southeastern Poultry
and Egg Federation identified the need to
determine the optimum time to change diets
as a high priority research area [2].
Because broiler chickens are grown to dif-
ferent weights to provide a variety of products
to meet consumer demands, the optimum time
of changing feeds may vary depending upon

1 Published with the approval of the Director, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station,
Manuscript No. 96090.
2 To whom correspondence should be addressed
 Research Report
SALEH et al. 291

the desired fmal weight of the bird. One of the TABLE 1. Composition and calculated nutrient
content of diets
products in great demand by the poultry in-
dustry is a bud weighing approximately3.3kg,
used primarily for deboning. At present this I I I
I
body weight can be attained in approximately Yellow corn 69.49
-
56 days, depending upon the sex and strain of Soybean meal 18.27
-
bird used. Poultry by-product 5.00
The National Research Council's [3] cur-

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rent nutrient recommendations for broiler Poultry oil 3.85
chickens are based upon feeding a starter diet
for 21 days, followed by a grower diet until
42 days of age, and a finisher diet from 42 to
56 days. In previous work from this station
[l,41, it was observed that straight-runbroilers
grown to 45 days of age could be changed from
starter to grower diets as early as 14 to 17 days
of age with no loss in performance. In these
studies, the time of changing from starter to
grower diet was the only feed management
variable imposed. The objective of the present
study was to determine the optimum time of
changing from starter to grower and from
grower to finisher diets for male broilers ME kcalikg 3135 3195 3250
grown to approximately 3.3 kg. Crude protein, % 21.29 20.18 17.70

MATERIALS
AND METHODS
Nonphytate P, %
Calcium, 70 0.93
0.47
0.87
0.45
0.81
0.41
BIRDS AND HOUSING -nine, 70 1.37 1.29 1.10
Male broiler chicks of a commercial strain Lysine, % 1.21 1.07 0.91
[5] were obtained from a local hatchery. In 0.57 0.51
Methionine, 70 0.46
each of two experiments, day-old chicks were
randomly assigned to pens with 60 chicks TSAA, 7 0 0.93 1 0.85 I 0.77
placed in each of 48 pens (56 ft2) in a steel-
truss broiler house of commercial design. The
pens were equipped with two tube feeders
and an automatic water font. Previously used
softwood shavings with a topdressing of fresh
shavings were used as litter over concrete
floors. House temperature and ventilation
were maintained by thermostatically con-
trolled brooder stoves, ventilation fans, and
automatic sidewall curtains. Incandescent
lamps were used to supplement natural day- mixing the diets, with adjustments made in
light to provide 23 hr of light and 1hr of dark- amino acid content. AI1 diets contained 5%
ness. poultry by-product meal, 60 dton salinomycin
[7l as an anticoccidial, and 50 @ton bacitracin
DIETS
methylene disalicylate [8] as a growth pro-
The starter, grower, and finisher diets
were formulated to emulate current industry moter. The diets were adequately fortified
nutritional practice as reported by a popular with vitamins and trace minerals using com-
agricultural survey [6] at the time the experi- mercially available premixes. All diets were
ments were conducted. Table 1 shows the peLleted with steam, and the starter diets
composition of the diets. Formulation was were crumbled. Samples of mixed feeds ana-
based upon the crude protein and moisture lyzed for crude protein content were found
content of the ingredients actually used in to be in agreement with the calculated values.
292
The same diet composition was used in both
experiments.
EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS
Birds in both experiments were fed for
56 days to reach a projected weight of approx-
imately 3.3 kg. The first experiment employed
12 treatments administered in a 3 x 4 factorial
arrangement, with three starter diet feeding
times (0 to 7,O to 14, and 0 to 21 days) and four
finisher diet feeding times (21 to 5 6 , B to 56,
35 to 56, and 42 to 56 days). Grower diet was
fed at varying times depending upon the ter-
mination of starter diet and the initiation of
finisher diet. Four pens of birds received each
dietary treatment.
In the second experiment, there were also
12 treatments consisting of a 3 x 4 factorial
arrangement, with three starter feeding times
(0 to 7, 0 to 14, and 0 to 21 days) and four
r feeding times (35 to 56,42 to 56,
f ~ h e diet
49 to 56 days, or none). Grower diet was fed
at varying times depending upon the termina-
tion of starter diet and the initiation of finisher
diet. Four pens of birds received each dietary
treatment.
MEASUREMENTS
For both trials pen body weights were
determined at 56 days. Feed consumption
during each feeding period was measured.
Mortality was checked twice daily; buds that
died were weighed and the weight used for
calculating the feed conversion ratio (FCR;
g feed/g gain). The calorie conversion ratio
(CCR; ME kcaVkg gain) was calculated by
multiplying the consumption of starter,
grower, and finisher diets by their respective
caloric contents and dividing by the sum of the
weight of live and dead birds. At 56 days, five
birds per pen were randomly selected from
birds marked at 1day, weighed, wingbanded,
subjected to 12-hr feed withdrawal, and pro-
cessed in the University of Arkansas pilot
processing plant with manual evisceration to
determine dressing percentage, abdominal
fat, and parts yield [9]. Data were analyzed as
described [lo, 111. The same starter feeding
periods were used in both experiments; there-
fore data reflecting the effects of starter feed-
ing times in both studies were combined for
statistical analysis. Because there were only
two common finisher feeding times for the two
experiments, no attempts were made to com-
CHANGING FEED FOR BROILERS
bine data on finisher feeding times from the
two experiments. All statements of statistical
sigdicance are based upon probability 5 .05.
RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
EXPERIMENT 1
The effects of changing the times of feed-
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ing the starter, grower, and finisher diets on
the live performance and carcass characteris-
tics of male broilers grown to 56 days of age to
attain a live weight of approximately 3.3 kg are
shown in Table 2. Only main effects are pre-
sented, as there were no si@icant interac-
tions between time of feeding starter and time
of feeding finisher diets. The time of feeding
starter diet had no significant effect on body
weight or mortality. Increasing the duration of
feeding starter diet significantly increased
FCR: for each additional day, FCR increased
by 0.0016. Since the grower and finisher diets
had a higher energy value than the starter diet,
this increase in FCR was expected as birds fed
starter diet for a longer time would have con-
sumed a greater percentage of the lower-
energy starter diet. However, time of feeding
starter diet did not si&icantly affect CCR,
indicating that the chickens were able to effec-
tively utilize calories regardless of the diet
providing them. The time of feeding starter
diet had little influence on carcass parameters.
Increasing the duration of feeding starter diet
significantly reduced leg quarter yield as a
percentage of the carcass: each additional day
of feeding starter diet resulted in a decrease of
0.04% in leg quarter yield. There was no sig-
nificant effect of time of starter diet on dress-
ing percentage, abdominal fat, breast meat, or
wings.
The time of initiating fmisher diet had a
si@icant effect on several live production
and carcass quality parameters. Body weight
was significantly depressed with earlier ini-
tiation of finisher diet: each additional day
of feeding finisher diet decreased body
weight by 3.5 g. Both FCR and CCR were
sigolficantly influenced by the time of feed-
ing finisher diets: FCR was increased by
0.0011 and CCR was increased by 5.8 for
each additional day of feeding finisher diet.
Mortality, dressing percentage, breast meat,
leg quarters, and wings were not significantly
affected by the time of initiating finisher diet.
Abdominal fat content fell significantly as the
time that birds were maintained on finisher
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293

a
Research Report

t
SALEH et al.
294
diets diminished: each additional day of feed-
ing finisher diet increased abdominal fat by
o,Q29%. The finisher diet was higher in energy
than the starter or grower diet, but its amino
acid content was probably insufficient to sup-
port adequate utilization of its higher caloric
content for birds receiving it at earlier ages,
resulting in the increased deposition of ab-
dominal fat. The NRC [3] nutrient recom-
mendations for finisher diets are based on
initiation at 42 days, and although the diets
used in the present study are not based directly
on NRC recommendations they do not differ
markedly.
EWERIMENT 2
The effects of changing the times of feed-
ing starter, grower, and finisher diets on live
performance and carcass characteristics of
male broilers grown to 56 days to attain a live
weight of approximately 3.3 kg are shown in
Table 3. Only main effects are presented, as
there were no significant interactions between
time of feeding starter and time of feeding
finisher diets. The time of feeding starter diet
had no significant effect on body weight,
FCR, CCR, mortality, dressing percentage,
abdominal fat, leg quarters, or wing yield.
Breast meat yield was significantly depressed
by increasing the duration of feeding starter
diet: each additional day resulted in a 0.04%
reduction in breast meat yield. In contrast, our
first study found no reduction in breast meat
yield associated with time of feeding starter
diet.
As in Experiment 1,body weight was sig-
nificantly influenced by the time of initiating
finisher diet: each additional day of feeding
finisher diet decreased body weight by 5 g.
However, time of feeding finisher diet did not
significantly affect FCR, CCR, or mortality.
Dressing percentage, abdominal fat content,
leg quarter yield, and wing yield were not sig-
nificantly influenced by the time of feeding
finisher diet. Duration of feeding finisher diet
had a significant effect on breast yield: each
additional day of finisher diet reduced breast
meat yield by 0.037%.
COMBINED TRIALS
Table 4 shows the overall effects of the
times of feeding starter diet in the two experi-
ments. The time of feeding starter diet did not
significantly affect 56-day body weight, CCR,
CHANGING FEED FOR BROILERS
mortality, dressing percentage, abdominal fat,
breast meat yield, or wing yield. The FCR and
leg quarter yield were significantly affected by
duration of feeding starter diet: each day in-
crease in feeding starter diet increased FCR
by 0.002 and reduced leg quarter yield by
0.028%.
The time of changing from starter feed
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influenced the quantities of starter and grower
feed consumed, with little effect on quantity
of finisher feed consumed (Table 5). Birds
fed starter diet for the ftrst 7, 14, or 21 days
consumed an average of 129, 457, or 1,006 g
of starter diet, respectively. This constituted
approximately1.84,6.56,or 14.31% of the total
feed consumed for the three age periods,
respectively.
Previous studies on the optimum time to
change diets for broilers generally considered
only changes between two diets, Le., between
starter and grower diet [l, 4, 121, starter and
finisher diet [13, 14, 15, 161, or grower and
finisher diet [17]. Few studies consider vari-
able times of feeding starter, grower, and fin-
isher diets in the same feeding program. From
the present study, it appears that for male
broilers grown to achieve a target weight of
approximately 3.3 kg, feeding the starter diet
for no more than 7 days yields maximum live
performance and carcass characteristics.
Additionally, finisher diets should not be fed
earlier than 42 days of age. These conclusions,
however, apply only to diets formulated to
meet current industry standards. Diets of
lower nutrient quality may require commensu-
rate adjustments in feeding times. However, in
previous reports from our laboratory [l, 41
using diets formulated to provide 100,110, or
120% of suggested amino acid levels, there
were no significant interactions of amino acid
levels and time of changing starter diets for
broilers grown to 45 days.
Under almost any pricing situation, the
cost of feed decreases from starter to grower
to finisher feeds. Therefore, minimizing the
times of feeding starter feeds without sacrific-
ing productivity should enhance profitability.
Data obtained in the present study indicate
that feeding starter feed to 7, 14, or 21 days
would require approximately 60, 214, or
470 tons of starter feed per one million 3.3 kg
birds produced, respectively,with commensu-
rate adjustmentsin the amount of grower feed.
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295
Research Report
SALEHetal.
 JAPR
296 CHANGING FEED FOR BROILERS

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TABLE 5. Effect of changing time of feeding starter diets on consumption of different types of feed by male
broilers grown to 56 days of age (mean of two experiments)

CONCLUSIONS
AND APPLICATIONS
The optimum duration for feeding starter diet to birds grown to a target weight of
approximately 3.3 kg appears to be no more than 7 days.
The time of initiation of the finisher diet has a profound effect on live performance and
carcass composition, Inclusion of the finisher diet earlier than 42 days resulted in a
reduction in body weight, a deterioration in feed conversion and calorie utilization, an
increase in abdominal fat, and a reduction in breast meat yield.
Given typical cost differences among starter, grower, and finisher diets, the economic
impact of changing diets at earlier ages may be considerable.
These recommendations may not apply to diets of different nutrient content.

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View publication stats
297
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