ABSTRACT

A 56-day study was conducted to evaluate the performance and economies of single and two-phase diets in broiler production. A total of 72 day-old chicks were used for this study in a completely randomized design experiment. Two treatments (Tl and T2) were used for the experiment. TI (two-phase diet) comprised 2 diets - D, and Dy. D,A served as starter feed which was fed for 4 weeks while D8 was the finisher feed and was fed for the next 4 weeks. T2 comprised just one diet - De (single phase diet) which served as both starter and finisher feed. Diets DA had a crude protein content of 23.26%; metabolizable energy of 2981.11 kcal/kg; D contained 21.2% crude protein; metabolizable energy (3007.71 kcal/kg) and diet C (De) had a crude protein content of 22.24%; metabolizable energy (2994.43 kcal/kg). Feed intake were calculated daily and average weight gain taken at the end of the week. Each of the two treatments had 3 replicates of 12 birds each. The performance of both groups of birds were statistically analyzed using the Students T-test. The two-phase starter diet performed significantly (P<0.05) better than the single diet in body weight gain and consumed more feed in the first week of the study ·but T2 converted feed better (P<0.05) than TI. There was no influence on the birds by the diets in the 2° and 3° weeks of the study. Feed intake of birds on the two-phase diet was significantly (P<0.05)="" 5,="" 7="" and="" 8="" weeks="" study.="" treatments="" did="" not="" affect="" carcass="" organs="" (p="" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">0.05). Although the feed cost per bird was slightly lower in the single diet than the two-phase diet group, the revenue per bird and gross margin were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the two-phase diet than the single diet group. The results of this study therefore, indicated that the twophase feeding regimen stands a better feeding program for broiler production.