A total of 150 birds were used in this experiment in summer 2002 to investigate the effect of feeding starter diets for different periods on the performance and the economical advantages on broiler chicks. Birds were fed starter diets for two, three and four weeks prior to feeding the finisher diets. Birds fed the starter for four weeks had higher (p<0.05) average final weights, more (p<0.05) gain per day, more (p<0.05) feed intake and lowest (p<0.05) feed conversion efficiency. Feeding the starter for two weeks caused the lowest (p<0.05) cost of gain as opposed to other feeding groups. The results of the experiment showed that feeding starter rations for more than two weeks had no economical advantages according to the local starter feed prices.

An-Najah University Journal for Research - Natural Sciences (A) ISSN: 1727-2114
Volume 17 , Issue 2 , 2003, Pages: 281-285