Two experiments were carried out in order to compare the effects of physical form of ration on feed digestibility and performance of broiler chickens. In the first experiment 480 day-old male Ross broiler chicks were used during the 42 days of trial, following a completely randomized design of three treatments: three physical forms of ration (mash, pellet and expanded-pellet) with eight replicates of twenty birds each. In the second experiment 900 day-old male Ross broiler chicks were used during the 42 day of trial, following the same design, but with 10 replications of 30 birds each. No significant difference in the coefficient of dry matter metabolization was observed. The metabolizable protein was higher in pellet-expanded ration and lower in mash ration (P<0.05). The processing of diet significantly increased the metabolizable ether extract (P<0.05) and values of 68.87, 74.64 and 74.44% were observed for mash, pellet and expanded-pellet rations, respectively. Body weight of broilers increased as the intensity of processing of ration reaching 2.597, 2.828 and 2.874kg for mash, pellet and expanded-pellet rations, respectively (P<0.05). Birds fed processed rations showed higher feed consumption and lower feed conversion (P<0.05). The physical form of ration did not affect viability of birds.
pellet; expansion; digestibility; performance
