| ABSTRACT The current experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of stocking density (SD) on the performance and immunity of 1- to 14-d-old broilers. A total of 1836 one-day-old Cobb 500 broilers were housed at four different SD (30, 60, 90 and 120 chicks/m2). Body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were estimated on d 2, 5, 8, 11 and 14. Relative lymphoid organ weights, maternal antibody titers against IBV, IBD and NDV, and stress indicators were estimated on d 3, 6, 9 and 12.The results indicated that age significantly (p<0.001) affected the performance and immunity of broiler chicks. Stocking density significantly (p<0.001) affected the performance and physiological stress indicators of broiler chicks, but not... |
