David Lamot

I. INTRODUCTIONBody composition, more specifically breast muscle and the abdominal fat pad, at the end of the rearing period of breeder pullets seems to play an important role in egg production, lay persistency, and fertility in the laying phase. Management of feeding by changing feed allowance or nutrient composition of the breeder pullet’s diet during rearing can alter body composition at ...

1. Introduction Growth rates of broiler chickens have increased and production cycle times have decreased by 60% in the last 40 years. This is widely agreed to be the direct result of genetic selection and improvements in poultry nutrition (Havenstein et al., 2003a). The incubation and brooding period has become a larger part of the total life span of the broiler chicken. This is expected to incr ...