Table 2.
Effect of dietary metabolizable energy level on average daily metabolizable energy intake and the performance of Chinese yellow-feathered chickens from 9–15 weeks of age.
| Variables | Dietary Metabolizable Energy Levels (Kcal/kg), Analyzed Content | SEM | p | Linear | Quadratic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2805 | 2897 | 2997 | 3095 | 3236 | |||||
| Final body weight (g) | 1386.6 | 1375.09 | 1408.08 | 1385.39 | 1430.12 | 16.85 | 0.0629 | ||
| Average daily gain (g) | 12.82 | 12.58 | 13.27 | 12.79 | 13.73 | 0.35 | 0.0629 | ||
| Daily feed intake (g) | 78.15 a | 78.32 a | 77.59 a | 75.28 b | 76.06 b | 0.59 | 0.0005 | 0.000 | 0.002 |
| Feed: Gain ratio (g/g) | 6.10 ab | 6.24 a | 5.86 bc | 5.90 b | 5.56 c | 0.13 | 0.0025 | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Daily metabolizable energy Metabolizable energy intake (kJ/d) | 219.21 d | 228.45 c | 232.53 bc | 233.52 b | 246.06 a | 5.69 | <0.0001 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Metabolic body weight (g) | 188.25 | 189.04 | 189.79 | 188.60 | 190.71 | 1.98 | 0.5248 | ||
| Mortality (%) | 3.33 | 4.16 | 5.12 | 6.67 | 4.17 | 2.06 | 0.6668 | ||
Means within a row with different superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05). SEM = pooled standard error mean. Metabolic body weight = [(Initial weight + final weight)/2] 0.75.