NUTRITION
Protein nutrition of breeders to improve production, hatchability and offspring performance – First Part
ŠBig Dutchman
In the last decades, poultry meat has become the most important protein source in human diet, and production is growing worldwide. Global poultry meat production in 2000 was 69 million tons and this increased to over 97 million tons in 2010. This equates to an annual production of approximately 70 billion broilers, originating from approximately 600 million broiler breeders.
Nowadays, management issues in broiler breeders associated with nutrition and reproductive characteristics are becoming increasingly challenging. Due to genetic selection on broilers, body composition of breeders has changed dramatically during the last 50 years to less fat and more breast muscle. It is postulated that a certain amount of body fat in broiler breeders at the onset of lay is necessary for maximum performance and offspring quality. R.A. Van Emous Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
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Body composition of breeders can be influenced by different feed allowances during rearing and lay, as well as by changes in nutrient composition of the diet. It can be concluded that feeding a low protein diet during rearing decreased breast muscle and increased abdominal
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