The effect of grouping one-day-old chicks by body weight on the uniformity of broilers

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effect of the grouping of 1-d-old chicks according to initial BW on the subsequent homogeneity and distribution of the weight of the broilers at harvest. Two treatments (placement methods) were tested: in one treatment (random), the chicks' placement was at random and not grouped by initial weight; in the other treatment (homogeneous groups), the chicks were grouped according to their initial weight. The broilers were individually weighed upon placement and again at 21 and 42 d of age. The lowest dispersion of the weight at placement was observed for the homogeneous groups, but the dispersion did not differ between the treatments at the subsequent weighings. Despite the difference in placement, the distributions of the weight data for the 2 groups did not differ between 21 or 42 d of age. Based on these results, the grouping of chicks by weight does not produce more uniform broilers at the end of the production period. © 2013 Poultry Science Association, Inc.