The Effects of Feed Color on Broiler Performance between Day 1 and 21

Abstract

Two trials were conducted to determine feed color effects on broiler performance. A completely randomized design was used. Trial 1 included four treatments: control (complete broiler starter diet), red, green, and blue; and Trial 2 included four treatments: control, orange, yellow, and purple. Each trial had 4 treatments with 4 replicates (60 birds/treatment) fed to 240 male Cobb 500 broilers during a 21 d grow out. Data were analyzed using the GLM procedure. In Trial 1, there were no treatment effects on average body weight, body weight gain, and feed consumption (p > 0.05). Adjusted feed conversion for control (1.23) was less than red (1.27; p = 0.001) and green (1.26; p = 0.009), with blue (1.25; p = 0.056) tending to be different during the experimental period. In Trial 2, there were no treatment effects on average body weight, feed consumption, and adjusted feed conversion during this study (p > 0.05). Body weight gain between d 1 to 14 for purple (490.78 g/bird) was more than orange (467 g/bird; p = 0.013) and yellow (461 g/bird; p= 0.004), with control (474 g/bird; p = 0.052) tending to be different. Results indicate that these feed colors had some, albeit limited, influence on broiler performance parameters.