An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of energy levels (2900-LE and 3200-HE- kcal ME/kg), physical form of the diet (mash-M and pellet with 2 mm-P2 and 4 mm-P4) and pair feeding (Pf), by feed restriction based in Ad libitum (Ad)/M/HE diets, on male broilers performance and carcass yield, from 21 to 42 days of age. There were 8 treatments, 5 replicates, 12 birds/replicate. In the P diets, only whole pellets were offered. At these conditions, there were no differences on performance and carcass parameters between P2 and P4 diets, although P2/LE showed less fines (12%) than P4/LE (27%). Pair-feeding M/HE and P2+P4/LE resulted in similar weight gain (WG) (P<0,05), but better caloric efficiency (CE) (P<0,06) for M/HE. Among LE diets, although FI was lower in P/Pf (<0.001) when compared with M/Ad, there was no differences for WG, FE (feed efficiency) and CE. Comparing energy and diet form, the P/LE/Ad diets gave a greater FI, WG, abdominal fat and better CE, but worse FE compared with M/HE/Ad. Also had more economic return compared with M/Ad, in both energy levels. The pelleting process seems to be more profitable with low energy diets.
broilers; energy; pellets; performance
