Intakes of feed and water following restriction in selected and nonselected broilers

Consumption following a 24-hr withdrawal from feed or water was examined in selected and nonselected broilers from 0 to 10 days of age and in low body weight (LW), high body weight (HW), and HW X LW (F1) progeny from 120 to 132 days of age. In posthatch trials, body weights of feed-restricted (FR) and water-restricted (WR) selected broilers decreased more rapidly than comparable treatments in nonselected broilers. Feed intake of ad libitum control treatments in both genotypes was significantly greater than feed intake of FR and WR treatments. Nonselected birds had a greater ability to compensate for feed deprivation than selected birds, and there appeared to be no differences between genotypes with regard to ability to compensate for water deprivation. The LW birds and HW X LW progeny (F1) had greater ability than HW birds to compensate for both feed and water restriction. Feed consumption on days of water restriction was not as severely reduced as was water consumption on days of feed restriction. It was concluded that water intake is more dependent on the availability of food than is food intake on the availability of water at 120 days in the LW and HW lines.