Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part A (2020)

Author(s): NS Sunilkumar, K Karthika, S Maya, KM Lucy, N Ashok, VR Indu, AR Sreeranjini and KB Sumena

Abstract: The live bodyweights and percentage of protein present in the meat of commercial broiler and layer chicken of same age group were compared in the study. The mean live bodyweight recorded respectively in 45 days old broiler and layer birds were 2100±192.3 and 254±2.9 grams which indicated a much faster growth rate of broilers than the layer lines belongs to same age group. Variation in the hormonal mechanisms of appetite control results in large differences in the mechanism of feed intake and utilization of nutrients in layer and broiler breeders. The broiler chicken meat contained 59 percentage of protein per one gram of tissue and in layer meat it was only 56 percentage. The increased protein percentage in broiler meat may be explained based on this observation that the broiler starter and finisher diet always contains a high percentage of crude protein when compared with layer ration.