The Bio-economic Effect of Nutrient Intake Restrictions During the Rearing Period and Post “Peak” Egg Production Feed Restriction on Four Commercial Meat-type Parental Genotypes

An experiment involving four meat-type genotypes with 2230 adult females and 354 adult males was conducted to study the separate and combined effects of three rearing feed treatments and two adult feed treatments. The rearing feed treatments consisted of a comparison of full-feeding with a “skip-a-day” feeding program and the feeding of a low-protein growing diet. After peak egg production the daily time for eating was restricted for one-half the population to limit feed consumption to approximately 90% of that of full-fed controls. Significant genotypic differences were evident for 30 different traits or measures. Significant differences were found in 33 traits among birds on the three rearing feed treatments. The “skip-a-day” feed treatment resulted in the most hatching eggs, fewer double-yolked eggs, increased egg size, improved feed conversion, reduced body weight and higher monetary returns. The restriction of feed for adults had no important beneficial effect on performance. Interactions were minimal and were not considered of practical importance.