| In the present study, 35 farmers contracted by an integration company were selected. Each farmer owned an average of seven poultry houses, and housed six flocks per year, with a total of 4.0 million housed broilers. Birds were grouped into 5 market ages (MA1=<43, 43<MA2=<44, 44<MA3=<45, 45<MA4=<46, MA5>46 days), and the following parameters were measured: average flock body weight (AFW), feed conversion ratio (FCR), livability (L), production efficiency index (PEI), production cost, and farmer's gross margin. MA significantly influenced all parameters, except production cost/kg broiler. The effects of farm and farm*MA interaction were not significant. Each day of MA increase resulted in increases of 68.43g and 0.039 units in AFW and... |
