The timing of food availability affects growth in chicks

✍ Scribed by Carolyn Rovee-Collier; Harlene Hayne; George H. Collier

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 156 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0012-1630
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199804)32:3<183::aid-dev3>3.0.co;2-k

✦ Synopsis

Three experiments challenged the ability of domestic chicks to grow normally by differentially restricting when and for how long food was available. In Experiments 1 and 2, food was available for six three two or one (a.m., p.m.) periods/day 1-hr, 2-hr, 3-hr, 6-hr over the first 3 posthatch weeks. Control groups received continuous access to food. In Experiment 3, different amounts of light surrounded the feeding period. In Experiments 2 and 6-hr 3, chicks composed their own diets from separate sources high in protein or carbohydrate. Except for the single meal preceding dark, large meals at other times of day impaired 6-hr growth-primarily because chicks consumed insufficient dietary protein and ate less earlier in the light phase. We conclude that both the amount eaten and the proportion of the diet consumed as protein at given times of the day are phylogenetically acquired strategies that fit the omnivorous, diurnal chicken to its niche, independent of its momentary requirements, and appear early in development.