Feeder space:
Attaining uniform feed intake by broiler breeders will result in larger broilers and lower
costs in the growing house. BY TERRENCE O’KEEFE
Is more feeder space per bird nec- essarily a good thing? This ques- tion is posed by Dr. John Brake, poultry science professor, North Carolina State University.
Brake and fellow researchers have been
looking at feeder space and how it can be
associated with performance issues in male
and female broiler breeders.
Speaking at the North Carolina Broiler
Breeder and Hatchery Management
Conference, Brake explained the important role that feeder space per bird plays
in the amount of feed that individual birds
consume and how this impacts both the
performance of the breeder ;ock and the
offspring.
Primary breeder manuals typically recommend around 6 inches of feeder space per bird.
Pen trials test space per bird
Brake and his colleagues have conducted
a number of pen trials to test the impact of
feeder space on breeder performance. In one
study, birds were raised with either 2. 8 or 4. 2
In Brake’s research, the best laying
performance and livability were obtained
by the group of birds grown on 4. 2 and 4. 1
inches per bird of feeder space in the pullet
and layer houses, respectively (Table 1).
Management ideas for broiler flocks are online . . . “Post-hatch feed and broiler performance” www.WAT TAgNet.com/10800.html
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The next best performing
group was the birds raised
on 2. 8 inches of feeder
space per bird and kept
in the laying house on 2. 4
inches per bird.
Increasing feeder space
from pullet house to layer
house and cutting the feeder space from pullet house
to layer house gave equally bad performance
in the layer house.
Brake said that having a uniform amount
of feeder space in both the growing and
laying houses gives the best performance.
Normally, in U.S. production houses, feeder
space slightly increases for both males and
females going from the growing house to
the layer house.
inches per bird of feeder space in the pullet
house and either 4. 1 or 2. 4 inches per bird in
the laying house.
Primary breeders typically recommend
around 6 inches of feeder space per bird.
Competition is a good thing
“Crowding the birds on the feeders is the
right thing to do,” Brake said. Competition
for feeder space helps to spread the feed
out among the birds. The positive effects
of this competition carry over into bird
performance in the broiler house. In a
study conducted at North Carolina State
University, the smallest broilers came from
the breeder ;ock that was raised on 2. 8
inches of feeder space per bird and kept
in the laying house at 4. 1 inches of feeder
space per bird ( Table 2). The largest weight
broilers came from the ;ock raised on 4. 2
inches per bird in the pullet house and 4. 1
