Asian Journal of Research in Biosciences

Due to high cost of feed ingredients, and its negative effect on production cost in livestock subsector, feed restriction strategy has been adopted as a means of limiting bird’s access to feeds during the day without compromising quality of poultry products. The present study aimed at investigating the response of two strains of commercial cocks to different feed restriction regimen. A total number of 180 day-old cockerels of two strains comprising Black and White plumage (90 chicks each) were procured to examine and compare their blood parameters. At 6^th week of age, the birds were distributed into four treatments with three replicates for each strain. The treatments are, T₁: control (ad libitum), T₂: feed restricted (6^th -7^th week), T₃: feed restricted (8^th -9^th week) and T₄: feed restricted (10^th -11^th week). At the end of the 16^th week one bird per replicate was randomly chosen for blood collection into a labelled sample bottles treated with anti-coagulant and were taken to the laboratory for analysis. Analyzed results revealed that there was no significant (P>.05) effect of strain on all the parameters measured except Basophil. In addition, there was no significant (P>.05) effect of feed restriction on packed cell volume, haemoglobin, red blood cell, platelets, monocyte, eosinophil and basophil except for white blood cell, lymphocyte and heterocyte. It is however, interesting to note that the obtained mean values for all parameters were comparable, and within the ranges recorded for chickens in previous reports.