Figure 1 - Effect of Hemicell^® on Body Weight Uniformity of 49-day broilers

Several experiments have been conducted with broilers and turkeys in which individual bird weights were measured and body weight uniformity within pens was determined. An experiment was conducted at the PARC Institute with 2240 straight-run broilers to determine effects of Hemicell^® on body weight uniformity at different ages. With 16 replicate pens each containing 70 birds, birds were individually weighed at 21, 35, and 49 days of age. The average body weight Coefficient of Variation (CV) was significantly lower with the Hemicell^® pens at 21, 35, and 49 days of age (P<.05). The CV of 49 day body weight was 13.31% for the controls and 11.02% for the birds with Hemicell^® . The nature of the differences in flock uniformity is graphically represented in Figure 1. It is clear that there were fewer birds in the lower body weight ranges when Hemicell^® was provided.