In animal production, particularly in the área of broiler breeders, special attention has been given to the genetic improvement of these birds. General management practices of these birds have not suffered the same development. There are doubts in relation to the ideal quantity of feed to be offered per bird/day, particularly during the growing period, só that the bird may have an adequate corporal development and expresses to the maximum all of the productive potential. This experiment was conducted in order to analyse production parameters of broiler breeders grown with varying quantities of feed. From the 5th to the 20th week of age the birds were fed 15% less ration than that recommended by the breed manual (ARBOR ACRES, 1992; T1), 10% less (T2) the quantity recommended (T3) and 10% more than the recommended quantity. The results show that the body weight of the birds is directly affected by the quantity of feed consumed (P<0.05). Even though the heavier birds (T3 and T4) started laying earlier, they did not produce more eggs than the lighter birds (T1 and T2} (P>0.05) which in turn produced more hatchable eggs than the heavier birds (P<0.05). The average egg weight was not affected by the differents treatments. This shows that boiler breeders can be grown on 15% less feed whitout their production being affected and with the added advantage of saving about 1340g of feed per bird housed.
broiler breeders; growing period; feeding; egg production
