EFFECT OF DAY-TO-DAY VARIATION OF DIETARY ENERGY ON RESIDUAL FEED-INTAKE OF LAYING HENS

An experiment was conducted that examined the effect of day-to-day var iability of dietary energy on feed intake behavior. Three levels of av erage daily dietary ME composition (2,580, 2,814, and 3,009 kcal/kg) a nd three levels of day-to-day variability of ME (low, medium, and high ) were assigned to nine groups of DeKalb-XL laying hens in a 3 x 3 fac torial design. Each of the nine treatments contained 35 individually c aged birds. Daily measurements of feed intake, egg production, and egg mass were taken for each bird in this 56-d experiment. Pre- and poste xperiment body weights were taken at 23 and 31 wk of age. Increasing l evels of day-to-day variance of ME were associated with increased feed consumption for each mean level of ME (P < 0.01) and increased variab ility of day-to-day feed intake for the 2,580 kcal/kg mean level (P < 0.01). No significant differences (P < 0.01) in egg production, egg ma ss, or body weight were observed.