Day old Dekalb XL-link pullets were randomly assigned to eight dietary treatments of 100 birds each. The percent crude protein (CP) with the respective weeks fed in parentheses for each treatment (T) was as follows: T1. control 18(0-6), 15(6-14) and 12(14-20); T2. 18(0-1), 12(1-8), 15(8-14) and 18(14-20); T3. 18(0-1), 12(1-10), 15(10-16) and 18(16-20); T4. 18(0-1), 12(1-12), 15(12-16) and 18(16-20); T5. 16(0-1), 12(1-10), 15(10-16) and 18 ( 16- 20 ); T6 . 16 ( 0-1 ) , 12 ( 1-12 ) , 15 ( 12 -16 ) and 18 ( 16- 2 0); T7. 20(0-1), 12(1-10), 15(10-16) and 18(16-20); and T8. 20(0-1), 12(1-12), 15(12-16) and 18(16-20). All diets were fed ad lib.
The control pullets were heavier for most of the 20-week growing period. Skeletal growth was highly correlated with body weight, however body size was not different at 20 weeks. Cumulative feed intake of the control fed birds was significantly greater than five of the reverse protein fed birds. Feed conversion and protein intake suggested a potential economic advantage in reverse protein feeding.
At 20 weeks of age, 576 pullets were transferred to laying cages and fed a common diet. No differences in body weight were seen at 28 weeks of age. Livability was not affected by dietary treatment. Hen-day and hen-housed figures showed significant treatment effects during the first 28-day period only. No significant differences were seen in egg weight, % egg size, egg mass, egg specific gravity, shell deformation, Haugh units or any feed trait. Reverse protein feeding appeared to offer promise as a method of restricting growth in egg-type pullets. The significance of effects on egg production traits may have been masked by small sample size. / M.S.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/101309 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | Robinson, Frank Edwin |
| Contributors | Poultry Science |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | xii, 160 pages, 2 unnumbered leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 10332019 |
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