Authors : J.D.Latshaw and B. L. Bishop
Abstract: An experiment was designed to determine the amount of energy that was used for maintenance each day by broiler chickens. They were reared on litter and had free access to a nutritionally adequate diet until the average weight was about 1.34 kg. Nineteen males of intermediate weight were selected. Twelve were randomly allotted to individual cages, and the remainder were assigned to an initial group. The same procedure was followed for females. All of the chickens in cages were fed the same complete feed as pellets. Each chicken was fed an amount of feed that provided between 100 and 320 kcal ME/d/kg0.75. Two males and two females fed either the smallest amount of feed or the largest amount of feed continued on experiment for 10d. The remaining chickens were fed for 14 d. A total excreta collection from a 48h period was completed for each chicken. Amount of feed eaten each day did not affect digestibility (ME/g=2.974 kcal/g). Chickens in the initial groups were killed at day 0 and the others after completing the experiment. The whole body of each chicken was ground, and a portion was dried and used to determine fat and energy content. Multiple linear regression of the data provided the following model: Energy balance (kcal/d/ kg0.75) = –188.2 + 7.398 (avg % body fat) + 0.777 (ME/d/kg0.75) A chicken with 13% body fat requires 118 kcal ME/d/kg0.75 for maintenance.
J.D.Latshaw and B. L. Bishop , 2004. Energy Required for Maintenance of Broiler Chickens and the Change Due to Body Fat Content . Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 3: 19-23.