Two experiments were carried out to determine the nutritional value of the dried egg (DEGG), and the effect of the post-starvation hatching time (PSHT) and the inclusion of dried egg powder in the diet of broiler chicks. In experiment 1, 120 male Ross-308 broiler chicks were housed according to a completely randomized design into three treatments and five repetitions of eight birds each. Excreta collection was daily performed from 24 to 29 days of age in the morning and afternoon. In experiment 2, a sex-mixed batch of 810 Cobb-500 chicks was used. Initial weight was 33.41 ± 0.53 g, and the chicks were housed in pens measuring 1.0 × 1.5 m. A completely randomized experimental design was used with nine treatments and six repetitions of 15 birds each, according to a 3 × 3 factorial of three DEGG levels (0, 2 and 4%) and three PSHT (28, 40 and 52 hours), corresponding to: 0, 12 and 24 hours of starvation after housing, respectively. DEGG showed 51.54% of CP and 4,278 kcal AMEn/kg. From 1 to 7 days of age, the birds submitted to starvation for 40 and 52 hours showed lower live weight, weight gain and feed intake when compared to birds fed sooner (at 28 hours PSHT). The poorest performance was shown by birds fasted for 52 hours (24 hours of starvation after being housed). DEGG levels of 4% in the pre-initial diet improved the live weight in the second and third days of age. In conclusion, DEGG might be used from 1 to 21 days of age in broiler diets without impairing the bird performance.
alternative feed; initial development; nutritional value; performance
