Effects of Feed Restriction on Production Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Koekoek Chickens in Ethiopia

This study was conducted to examine the effects of feed restriction on production performance as well as traits relating to egg and carcass yield in Potchefstroom Koekoek dual purpose chicken bred under Ethiopian conditions. A total of 240 one-day-old dual purpose Koekoek chicks were randomly distributed into 12 experimental pens, representing 4 feeding treatments to evaluate the performance of chicks on body weight and age at onset of laying eggs (AOLE), egg quality, and carcass parameters. Treatments were control (unrestricted feed, diet ad libitum), R7-28 (restricted feed at 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 28 days of age), R35-56 (restricted feed at 35, 38, 41, 44, 47, 50, 53 and 56 days of age) and R63-84 (restricted feed at 63, 66, 69, 72, 75, 78, 81 and 84 days of age) groups. The study was lasted for a period of 23 weeks during which feed consumption and growth performance record were taken. At the end of the experiment, six pullets from each treatment were randomly selected and slaughtered to evaluate carcass parameters. The results showed a significant difference between the control and R63-84 group's birds in both daily and total feed consumption (P