The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the housing system, feed withdrawal, and placement time on broiler development and performance. Six hundred-day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks were used in this study. This study used slatted floors and deep-litter housings. In the morning, 300 birds were placed in the pens, while another 300 birds were placed in the afternoon. A feeding schedule was implemented for half of the birds from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm, whereas the other half was fed ad libitum. The experiment had eight treatments; each replicated thrice using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Each replicate consisted of twenty-five birds. The average total feed consumption was significantly higher (P < 0.001) on slatted floors than on the deep litter. Moreover, the average final body weight, weekly weight gain, and feed conversion ratio of broilers in slatted floor housing were higher (P < 0.001) than those in deep litter. The slatted housing group had a significantly higher water intake (P < 0.001).  Nevertheless, the experimental factors had little effect on the death rate. Although the feeding and placement times did not affect the overall performance, the slatted floor housing system produced better results.

Keywords: Deep litter housing, Slatted floor housing, body weight, feed intake, Feed Withdrawal, growth, Placement time