Is broiler breeding a viable alternative to day-old chick slaughter?

Abstract

The euthanasia of billions of day-old male chicks is a widespread practice in Brazil and in several countries, since they do not have a productive destination in laying poultry. In this sense, our objective was to evaluate the productive and economic viability of male layers as an alternative to mass euthanasia. Four hundred Dekalb Brown chicks were fed with different diets: control and target nutritional value (CThigh), control and low nutritional value (CTlow), partial replacement by wheat and high nutritional value (TRhigh), partial replacement by wheat and low nutritional value (CTlow). Weight, weight gain (GP), feed conversion (CA), feed intake (CR) and productive viability (PV) were evaluated weekly. The economic analysis was based on the difference between the purchased inputs and the sale value of the birds. The experimental design was completely randomized in a 2x2 factorial scheme, with two nutritional densities and two formulations. There was no difference for weight, GP, CA, CR and VP between the control and added wheat diets. The high nutritional value improved the responses for weight, WG and AC in the periods of 1-14, 1-21, 1-28 and 1-35 days, with the TRalto diet showing better financial return. These results guide the need to create a differentiated production chain so that laying broilers can meet market niches based on the ethical consumption of animal protein.