Impacts of Graded Levels of Metabolizable Energy on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Slow-Growing Yellow-Feathered Male Chickens

Simple Summary Inadequate feed inhibits the potential performance of birds, and giving birds excess nutrients or levels higher than the requirement reduces production profits and may lead to negative effects on performance. Although recently there has been an expanding market worldwide for slower growing chickens to meet the consumer demand for a better tasting meat, little effort has gone into optimizing their dietary nutrient levels. Using fiv e different dietary energy levels, this study evaluated the optimal requirement of dietary energy for maximal growth rate, feed:gain ratio, meat quality indices, and blood metabolites of a Chinese yellow-feathered breed. A dose-response study was conducted to investigate the metabolizable energy (ME) requirement for Lingnan chickens from 9 to 15 weeks of age. One thousand two hundred 8-week-old slow-growing yellow-feathered male chickens were allotted to five dietary ME levels (2805, 2897, 2997, 3095 and 3236 kcal/kg). The results revealed that the daily metabolizable energy intake increased (p < 0.01), whereas the feed intake and feed:gain ratio decreased linearly (p < 0.01) with the increment in dietary ME level. The final body weight and daily gain of the highest ME treatment tended (p > 0.05) to be greater than those obtained with the lower ME levels. The fat content in breast muscle showed a quadratic response (p < 0.05) to the increase in dietary energy level. The shear force values of breast muscle in the 2897, 3095 and 3236 kcal/kg treatments were lower (p < 0.05) than those of the 2997 kcal/kg treatment. In conclusion, among the tested ME levels, 3095 kcal/kg was adequate for feed intake, shear force, and plasma uric acid, and 3236 kcal/kg tended to increase the body weight, body gain, and feed conversion ratio of Lingnan males between 9 and 15 weeks of age; further studies are still required for testing higher levels.