high density diets for dwarf layers高密度的饮食为矮层.pdfVIP

HIGH DENSITY DIETS FOR DWARF LAYERS 1)( J. H. QUISENBERRY Texas A and M University, Department of Poultry Science College Station, Texas U. S. A. 77843 SUMMARY The recent widespread introduction of a simply inherited, sex-linked gene for a dwarf bird into the test programs of a number of commercial breeders has focused attention on body size as a potential breakthrough for increasing the feed to food protein conversion of commercial poultry. Evidence from previous experiments at Texas A and M University had suggested that dwarf layers may require a diet with higher nutrient density than their non-dwarf sisters. In an experiment involving non-dwarf birds divided into three weight classes, light, medium and heavy, at 20 weeks of age, the small bodied birds responded more to a higher nutrient density of their diets than the heavier birds. A further suggestion as to the importance of feeding light bodied birds differently from those above a minimum threshold weight, 3001grams, had been obtained previously from experiments comparing performance of spring versus fall hatched birds in a warm climate and also from the First and Second Texas Gene-Environment Performance Tests. Two experiments comparing the laying performance of dwarf and non-dwarf birds have been completed. In the first experiment, two diets 61(and 17 p. 100 protein) with the same calo- ratio and one, two and three birds 254.x cm were The rie/protein per 457. cages compared. protein level had little effect on body weight and hen-day egg production of the dwarf layers, but egg size, percentage large eggs and feed efficiency were increased by the higher protein level. The non-dwarf birds decreased in egg