Emerging researches suggest that an early feeding approach has a long-term influence on chick growth performance and nutrient metabolism. The present study was designed to determine the effect of early feeding and the time of chicks transferring from the hatchery to the field on productive performance, carcass traits of broiler chicks. 225 chicks, one-day old of broiler chickens Ross 308 with mean live body weight of 45g were used, and were randomly distributed to five treatments by 45 chicks per treatment with three replicates (15 chicks per replicate). The experimental treatments were as follows: T1 (control treatment) – the chicks were transferred 24 hours after hatching to the field without feeding, T2 –the chicks were fed immediately and transferred to the field 24 hours after hatching, T3 – the chicks were fed immediately and transferred to the field 6 hours after hatching, T4 – the chicks were fed immediately and transferred to the field 12 hours after hatching, T5 – the chicks were fed immediately and transferred to the field 18 hours after hatching. The current results showed that no significant (P > 0.05) effects of the experimental treatments on final body live weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio. In addition, an insignificant (p > 0.05) effects of the treatments on the weights of carcass, abdominal fat, breast, thigh, back, wing, neck, heart, liver, and gizzard were found. It can be concluded that there was no evidence of a positive effect of early feeding and transporting duration after hatching on productive performance and carcass characteristics of broilers. |