Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

The study was conducted to investigate the growth performance of two strains of Korean domestic chickens (KDC, i.e., 1A, and 2A). A total of 600, one-day-old female chicks were allocated in a completely randomized design to give 15 replicates for each strain (10 birds per pen). The chickens were fed (week 0 to 6: ad libitum; week 6 to 12: restricted feeding) commercial diets (week 0 to 5: crude protein 20.3% and metabolizable energy 3,059 kcal/kg; week 5 to 8: crude protein 18.6% and metabolizable energy 3,123 kcal/kg, and week 8 to 12: crude protein 16.7% and metabolizable energy 3,187 kcal/kg) together with fresh water. Body weight (BW) and feed intake were measured bi-weekly to calculate the average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), and subsequently the feed conversion ratio (FCR). The results indicate that the 1A crossbreed had a higher (p < 0.05) BW compared to the 2A crossbreed from week 6 to 10. A higher ADG (p < 0.05) was seen in the 1A crossbreed on week 6 and in the 2A crossbreed on week 8. Moreover, no difference (p > 0.05) was observed in the FCR between crossbreed 1A and 2A during the 12 weeks with the exception of week 8. Crossbreed 1A had (p < 0.05) an improved FCR compared to the 2A crossbreed on week 8. In conclusion, the 1A crossbreed had a higher growth performance compared to the 2A crossbreed for 12 weeks after hatching. This data can contribute by helping the KDC market.