Relationship of two-week body weight to the incidence of ascites in broilers

Two experiments were conducted to investigate whether a positive relationship exists between individual capacity for rapid growth and the subsequent development of ascites lesions in broilers. Chicks were wingbanded at 1 day of age and reared to 7 weeks on high-energy rations designed to promote rapid growth and ascites. All chicks dying during the experimental period were necropsied to determine the presence or absence of ascites lesions. In neither experiment was there any indication that the individual capacity for rapid growth, as reflected in relative 2-week body weights, was associated with an increased propensity to develop ascites.