Mitigating heat stress in commercial broilers through feeding management approaches: Insights into growth, serum biochemical indices, meat quality, and gut histomorphology.

BACKGROUND

Heat stress (HS) significantly affects tropical broiler farming by impairing growth, physiology, meat quality, survival, and profitability. Since feed constitutes a major production cost, adopting feeding management approaches may reduce costs while enhancing bird resilience under HS without compromising productivity.

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different feeding management approaches on growth, rectal temperature, water intake, serum biochemistry, meat quality, gut histomorphology, and profitability in heat-stressed broilers.

METHODS

A total of 750 broiler day-old chicks were reared in an open-sided house for 6 weeks and allocated to five feeding approaches: T1 = ad libitum feeding (AdLF); T2 = quantitative feed restriction (6, 9, and 12% restrictions during the 4th, 5th, and 6th weeks, respectively, QuantFR); T3 = fixed-period feed withdrawal (8 hours restriction, 8hFW); T4 = different periods of feed withdrawal (5, 7, and 9 hours restrictions during the 4th, 5th, and 6th weeks, respectively, DPFW); and T5 = intermittent feed withdrawal (2 hours of feeding and 2 hours of fasting, InterFW), with 5 replications of 30 chicks each. All groups were fed ad libitum for the first 3 weeks; thereafter, feed restriction protocols were applied. Data on growth, water intake, rectal temperature, serum biochemistry, carcass yields, meat quality, and gut histomorphology were analyzed.

RESULTS

The 8hFW group showed significantly (p <; 0.05) improved FCR, survivability, and production efficiency compared with the AdLF group. The InterFW group exhibited the highest weight gain and feed intake. The 8hFW group also exhibited significantly (p <; 0.05) reduced rectal temperature and water intake and improved serum glucose, lipid profile, and liver enzyme levels, with similar trends observed in the QuantFR and DPFW groups. Feeding approaches markedly (p <; 0.05) influenced dressing, breast, liver, and abdominal fat, while enhancing various meat quality parameters compared with the AdLF group. Similarly, intestinal histomorphometry improved significantly (p <; 0.05) in all feed-restricted groups compared with the AdLF group. Economically, 8hFW yielded the highest benefit-cost ratio (p <; 0.05), while AdLF had the lowest.

CONCLUSION

Fixed-period feed withdrawal (8hFW) was the most effective approach in mitigating HS effects, improving growth performance, meat quality, gut morphology, and profitability. Therefore, this approach is a practical and cost-effective solution for broiler production under extreme HS.