• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.171-178
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• 2021

A comparative study was conducted to examine the effects of mixed and separate gender feeding on growth performance of Korean native chickens (KNC) against a white semi-broiler (WSB) and a commercial broiler (CB) over five weeks. 576 chicks were used with eight birds per cage in a randomized complete block design with 18 replicates per breed. For the KNC lines, three groups of male (M), female (F) and mixed-gender (FM) were used. Fresh water and feed were supplied on an ad-libitum basis. Birds were fed a standard starter (d 1 - 22) and grower diet (d 23 - 35). Body weight (BW), feed intake, and shank length (SL) were measured weekly. From the BW and feed consumed data, the average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. The commercial broiler showed higher performance (p < 0.05) for all the indices measured for the entire period. The CB group consumed more feed and were more feed-efficient thus grew faster. This group was followed by the white semi-broiler and the KNC, in order. An intra-breed comparison for KNCs revealed that the males showed better growth performance with longer SL (p < 0.05) compared to the female and mixed-gender groups. The results showed that other than the breed type, mixed and separate gender feeding impacted on the growth performance of the two lines of Korean native chickens. Males for both lines of KNC generally performed better for the parameters measured, as determined by a greater BW and reduced FCR.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.719-727
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• 2021

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of mixed and separate gender feeding on the growth performance and carcass traits of Korean native chickens (KNC) compared to white semi-broilers (WSB) and a commercial broiler (CB) from hatching to 35 days. Here, 240 chicks were used with eight birds per cage in a randomized design with six replicates per breed. For the KNC lines, three groups of males (KNC-M), mixed-gender birds (KNC-FM) and females (KNC-F) were used. The two-phase feeding program used here consisted of a starter phase (days 1 - 21: crude protein [CP] 20% and metabolizable energy [ME], 3,050 kcal·kg^-1) and a grower phase (days 22 - 35: CP 18%, 3,100 kcal·kg^-1) for a commercial broiler. The WSB and CB were fed the only starter commercial diet. Fresh water and feed were provided ad-libitum. The results revealed that the KNC group had a lower (p < 0.05) body weight (BW) from day 7 and day 35 compared to that of the CB. Furthermore, the KNC group showed a lower (p > 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) relative to that of the CB during the entire experimental period. No difference (p > 0.05) was observed in the shank length among the treatments. There were also no significant differences in the growth performance or carcass traits between the KNC-M and WSB groups or in the genders of the KNC group.