Period of incubation and posthatching holding time influence on broiler performance

Abstract

The present study had the objective of investigating the performance of broilers housed immediately after hatching or after a 12 or 24 hour of post-hatching holding time. One thousand and six hundred male Ross 308 broiler chicks with an initial body weight of 46 grams were used. These chicks were distributed in a completely randomized experimental design with 5 treatments and 8 replications of 35 birds in each treatment. The treatments in this study consisted of the removal of chicks from the hatchery in three different times: after 480, 492 and 504 hours of incubation. In each one of these times, 280 chicks were removed from the hatchery and immediately housed. Another group of an identical number of chicks of each time remained in the hatchery to be housed at 504 hours after hatching. The chick group corresponding to those hatched at 480 and 492 hours performed better until 7 days. However, no differences in body weight or body weight gain were observed at the end of the study. Feed efficiency, however was worse for the birds hatched and placed at 480 hours. There were no differences among treatments for mortality.