EFFECT OF EARLY FEEDING IN THE HATCHING MACHINE ON THE PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF BROILERS

The access of early chicks to food and water is of great importance in enhancing future productive performance, where the current study was conducted to know the effect of early feeding in the hatching machine on the productive traits of broilers. The experiment was designed using completely randomized design (CRD) and 300 broiler chicks of the type Ross 308 were used. The chicks were distributed into 5 treatments, each treatment 3 replicates, and each replicate 20 birds, as follows: T1: The control provided her with the starter diet and water directly upon reaching the breeding hall. T2: the provision of the starter diet and water was delayed for 4 hours after reaching the breeding hall. T3: the provision of the starter diet and water was delayed for 8 hours after reaching the breeding hall. T4: early feeding into the hatching machine with a pre-starter ration. T5: early feeding with the hatcher after the chicks leave the hatching machine directly with the pre-starter ration. The results show Significantly excelled in primary body weight (p0.05) in favor of treatments T4 and T5 compared with the rest of the treatments. Significant superiority in final body weight (p0.01) in favor of treatment T4 compared to treatments T1, T2, and T3, and treatment of T5 was excelled on treatment T2 and T3. Significantly excelled in the overall weight gain rate (p0.01) in favor of treatment T4 with a significant decrease for treatment T3 compared to the rest of the treatments and a significant decrease for treatment T2 compared to treatments T1 and T5. Significant increase in the total feed consumption average, productivity index, and economic index (p0.01) in favor of treatment T4 compared to all other experimental treatments. Significant improvement in the total feed conversion ratio (p0.05) in favor of treatment T4 compared with all treatments.