UGA Cooperative Extension is a collaboration between UGA CAES and UGA FACS.
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Genetic selection for increased growth rate in broilers makes feed restriction programs for broiler breeders essential to manage body weight, flock uniformity, and reproductive performance. A common feed restriction method for broiler breeders is skip-a-day (SAD) feeding, which allows a large volume of feed to be distributed through the house increasing the opportunity for all birds to eat. UGA poultry scientists compared every-day feeding of a high fiber developer or skip-a-day to find out its effects on reproductive performance. They found that feeding a high fiber diet to broiler breeder pullets on an everyday basis during rearing, improved body weight uniformity in rearing, encouraged early lay, improved eggshell quality and increased egg weight.
