Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effects of diet formulation type on egg characteristics and reproductive performance of broiler breeder (50 to 64 weeks of age). 140 female and 20 male breeders in four treatments with five replicates (7 females : 1 male) were used in the randomized 2 × 2 factorial design. Four experimental diets were formulated based on two factors: two levels of apparent and true metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen of feedstuffs (AMEn and TMEn) and two levels of total amino acids (TAAF) and digestible (DAAF) feedstuffs. The results show that egg weight, egg production, fertility and hatchability were significantly different and affected by diet formulation based on energy (P<0.05). Diet formulation based on digestible amino acids of feedstuffs significantly increased albumen height and Haugh unit (HU). Hens on treatment 2 (AMEn + DAAF) were significantly different in egg weight (69.17 g), egg production (62.45%) and chicks/hen (40.23) (P<0.05). This study shows that the diets formulations for AMEn, TMEn, TAAF and DAAF have significant effects on egg characteristics and broiler breeders reproductive performance.

Key words: Broiler breeders, reproduction, amino acids, fertility, chickens.