Abstract 210

Panigrahi,-S; Machin,-DH; Parr,-WH; Bainton,-J

Tropical Development and Research Inst., Overseas Development Administration, Culham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3DA, UK.

British-Poultry-Science. 1987, 28: 4, 589-600; 12 ref.

Broiler chicks fed on a diet containing expeller copra cake up to 500 g/kg of high residual oil content not only retained less DM and gained less weight than those fed on a control diet with no copra, but also experienced difficulty in achieving similar food intakes. Chicks given the diet with copra 500 g/kg initially displayed an excited behaviour pattern, which may have developed out of frustration as they could neither derive adequate nourishment from their food nor increase food intakes sufficiently to allow them to achieve their genetic potential for growth. Chicks, however, showed considerable adaptation in that efficiency of food utilization and intakes were increased gradually; the latter seemed to be partly regulated by an increased intake of water that was associated with copra feeding. The surface area of the intestines was also increased in order to facilitate the absorption of nutrients, and greater proportions of the nutrients absorbed were converted into body weight. There were no significant differences in 7-week body weights of chickens fed on the control diet and diets containing copra, 125 and 250 g/kg. Although weight gains at the 500 g/kg inclusion rate were lower, the carcasses of these chicks had less abdominal fat and were consequently leaner.