Dietary Fiber and Meal Feeding Influence on Broiler Growth and Crop Fermentation

A study was conducted to observe growth, feed efficiency, and crop fermentation in chickens fed a fiber supplemented diet. One hundred newly hatched broiler type chicks were placed in 20 pens and fed a modified New England Conference starter ration. At two weeks of age all birds were made meal eaters by allowing access to feed three times per day for a half hour each feeding. At three weeks of age half the birds were randomly placed on a modified New England College Conference grower ration and the other half were placed on the same ration with approximately 6% added cellulose. The chicks were raised to 7 weeks of age. The fiber supplemented birds showed significantly lower average weights (P<.01) and smaller weight gains (P<.01) during the experimental period. Feed efficiency was poorer for the fiber supplemented group (P<.05) until the last week on experiment where the fiber supplemented and control groups were not significantly different. At seven weeks of age, twenty birds from the high fiber and control groups were killed, their crop contents were incubated anaerobically for 3 hr. No significant difference was observed in production rates of acetate and lactate. Minimal ethanol production was observed in both groups.