Effect of increasing cellulose in diets fed as crumbles or mash on the food intake and weight gains of broiler and Leghorn chicks

Two‐week‐old broiler and Leghorn cockerels were fed on diets containing 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 or 600 g cellulose/kg in either crumble or mash form for 4 weeks. 2. Intake of the mash form of the cellulose‐diluted diets and associated body weights were less than those associated with the equivalent crumble diets which may have been due to decreased palatability of the former. 3. Broilers were unable to compensate for dietary dilution with cellulose by increasing food intake sufficiently to maintain nutrient intake with either mash or crumbled diets at any dilution. 4. At 100 g cellulose/kg for the mash diets and 100 and 200 g/kg for crumbled diets, Leghorns increased volume ingested by as much as 40% and maintained body‐weight gain and nutrient intake. 5. The results could be of value in designing feeding programmes for egg‐and meat‐type pullets.