Veterinarija ir Zootechnika

Five hundred broilers chickens were used to study the effect of quantitative feed restriction during the growth period on the zootechnical performance and economical efficiency. Chickens were raised collectively during the starter period and a part of the growing period. At 24days of age, chickens were divided into three groups: control group, fed ad libitum, and two experimental groups (R1 and R2) restricted, respectively, to 10% and 20% of the daily feed intake of the control between 32 and 42 days of age. At 43 days, chickens of R1 and R2 were re-fed ad libitum until the end of the raising (49 days) where 13 randomly selected chickens from each group were slaughtered to record the weight of the heat carcass. Results showed that the average final live weight and the average heat carcass weight were