Responses of gross‐bred layers fed at specific meal times

Three meal‐feeding regimens were applied to cross‐bred layers from 20 to 68 weeks of age. Birds were fed either for 4 h in the morning, 4 h in the evening, or 2 h in the morning plus 2 h in the evening, and egg production and anatomical variables compared with those of control birds fed ad libitum. 2. Food intake restriction ranged from 22% in birds fed only in the morning to 13% in birds fed twice daily. However, egg production of birds fed twice daily was only marginally reduced compared with control birds. Giving free access to food from 69 to 84 weeks increased the total 20 to 84‐week egg production of the latter birds to greater than that of controls. 3. Birds fed only in the evening ate more and laid more and heavier eggs than birds fed only in the morning. However, a high proportion of the eggs from these former birds were laid in the evening. 4. The only anatomical adaptation to meal feeding was the larger crops observed in both groups of birds given one meal daily.