Managing rapid growth rate in broilers

Broiler chickens have been bred to reach market weights at a rapid rate. Management and breeding strategies are designed to increase growth rate with minimal feed intake during growing and learner carcasses at processing. Currently, broilers are processed at 40 days or less with a live weight of approximately 2 kg. Even though rapid growth rate has successfully reduced the amount of time to market age, it has caused negative effects on bird health. What should be done?

This article can also be found at World Poultry Volume 17 number 8. To view the article online simply click on the link below.

Keywords: management, broiler, growth, health