Feed Withdrawal for Broiler Chickens

Before broiler chickens are shipped to the processing plant, feed is withdrawn on-farm to assist
in emptying the birds’ digestive tracts and reduce the chances that the carcasses will be
contaminated during processing. A carcass can be contaminated while hanging on the
processing line if food leaks out of the crop through the mouth; feces are excreted from the
vent; or material in the digestive tract is released by nicking, cutting or tearing the intestine
during processing. Any of these contaminants may contain bacteria that will adhere to the
carcass. Proper feed withdrawal produces an empty gut that can be processed efficiently
without contaminating the body cavity or surface of the carcass.

The trend in recent years has been to process birds after a short feed withdrawal time. The
result has been less contamination during processing and reduced loss in carcass weight
(shrink) prior to processing. Economically, the reduced shrink has been the most significant
benefit of this trend.

Types of Contaminants

When investigating methods of reducing contamination, it is important to determine the type of

material contaminating the carcass. The seven possible sources of carcass contamination are

1. Feed 5. Broken down intestinal lining

2. Feces 6. Bile
3. Watery gut contents 7. Cecal Contents
4. Litter

Each of the types of contaminants has a different cause.

Feed – can contaminate the carcass if the birds do not drink enough water after the feed is
withdrawn to empty out the crop.

Feces - can be a problem if the feed withdrawal is not long enough or a disturbance of the
birds has slowed the passage of feed through the gut. The gut does not need to be
completely empty for the carcass to be processed properly.

Watery Contents – in the crop, gizzard and intestines can occur if the birds keep drinking
after they have consumed enough water to pass the feed out of the crop. Some strains of
broiler chickens naturally stop drinking after the crop has emptied while others continue
drinking. The strains that keep drinking may have watery gut contents if the birds are
allowed access to water more than two hours after the feeders are empty.

Litter - consumption can be a major problem if large quantities of feed were spilled at the
feeders while the birds were growing in the barn. During feed withdrawal, the birds may eat
feed that is in the litter and at the same time pick up manure and feathers from the
bedding. This material has a high bacteria content and may lead to contamination if the
birds eat it prior to being loaded onto the truck.

Broken Down Intestinal Lining - starts to accumulate in the intestine after the birds have
gone without feed for six hours. As long as the birds are eating regularly, they keep a
constant flow of the blood to the intestine and the villi lining the intestine remain intact to
absorb nutrients from the next meal. (Villi are microscopic “fingers” on the inside surface of
the intestine that absorb the nutrients from the feed.) Once the gut empties, the birds do
 not maintain the flow of blood to an intestinal lining that is no longer absorbing feed. The
birds shunt blood away from the intestine and the villi start to slough off. By 15 hours
without feed or “off-feed”, the gut lining is totally broken down and this broken down
material is found throughout the intestine. Natural bacteria in the gut grow on the cellular
material released as the intestinal lining is sloughed and produce large quantities of gas. If
the intestine is nicked, torn or cut during this time, the mucoid intestinal material in the gut
will leak or bubble out.

Bile – can be dumped from the gall bladder into the intestine if the birds have been without
feed for an extended time. While the birds are eating, bile routinely moves from the liver,
down a duct into the intestine. Very little bile is stored in the gall bladder as long as it is
needed in the intestine to assist in digestion of the food. As the gut empties, however, the
liver shunts the bile that it produces into the gall bladder to be stored until the next meal.
The storage of bile starts approximately four hours after the last meal. By twelve hours off-
feed, the gall bladder is quite enlarged due to buildup of bile. At about this same time,
released intestinal lining has accumulated in the intestine and its movement in the gut may
stimulate the release of large quantities of bile from the gall bladder. After 12 hours off-
feed, some gall bladders will shrink in size as they release bile while others continue to
store bile and grow in size.

Cecal contents - build up as the time off-feed is

extended. While the bird is eating, the ceca
dump their contents regularly, but dumping
becomes irregular after the birds do not eat for
four hours and the amount of material in the
ceca starts to increase. Improper stunning can
cause a death struggle in which the birds dump
most of their cecal contents into the intestine. If
the intestine is filled with released gut lining at
the same time, a large volume of wet, bacteria
laden material is produced in the gut and may Cecal material in the colon
leak out of the vent onto the carcass.

Windows of Processing Opportunity

Two windows of opportunity exist to successfully process chickens. Between these windows, is
a “wall” where potential for contamination is high and line speeds may need to be reduced
significantly. The first window occurs at eight to 12 hours after a bird stops eating. At this time,
the gut is almost completely empty but still strong and unlikely to break during processing. Any
individual bird that is off-feed for 15 to 16 hours poses a potential problem at the plant. The
intestine will be weakened by the extended hours off-feed and filled with gas and released
intestinal lining. The probability of carcass contamination increases dramatically during this
period. The second window normally starts at 18 hours off-feed. By this time, the bird has
flushed out the released intestinal lining and has started to produce new villi. A bird processed
in this second window of opportunity will have a weaker intestine than a bird processed in the
first window, but the intestine will contain very little material that could contaminate the carcass
if the intestine is damaged during processing.

Pattern of Meal Eating and Gut Emptying in a Flock

In a normal flock, a bird will eat about once every four hours. Immediately after eating a meal,
the bird will drink, solubilize some of the feed in the crop and pass that feed into the stomach
(proventriculus) and then on to the gizzard. Thirty to 45 minutes later, the bird will drink again,
solubilize more feed in the crop and pass it on for digestion lower in the digestive tract. After
another 30 to 45 minutes, the bird drinks again, solubilizes the rest of the feed in the crop and
passes it down the digestive tract. It takes three drinks of water for the bird to solubilize all the
feed in the crop and pass it on to the stomach. After the crop is empty, the bird will wait another
two to three hours before wanting to eat another meal. The four-hour interval between meals
involves approximately 1½ hours of drinking to solubilize the feed and empty the crop followed
by approximately 2½ hours in which the crop is empty but the bird does not yet eat another
meal.

Since not all birds in a barn eat a meal at the same time, some birds have full crops and others
have empty crops at any given time. In a flock where the individual birds eat regularly, only 30
to 40% of the birds in the barn will have feed in their crop at one time. In flocks where birds
have their individual meals at four-hour intervals, it would be expected at any point of the day to
find that one quarter of the birds have just eaten, another quarter ate one hour ago, a quarter
ate two hours ago and a final quarter ate three hours ago and will be starting to eat another
meal in the near future.

Because not all birds are at the same level of gut fill at any given time, there are limitations in
how precisely feed withdrawal can be controlled in a flock. At the time the feeders are raised or
pans are empty, some birds will have just eaten and others last ate four hours earlier. The birds
ready to start another meal when feed is withdrawn will be four hours closer to emptying their
digestive tracts than the birds which have just finished a meal at the time of feed withdrawal. As
an example, if feed is withdrawn at 2 a.m. and the birds are processed at 10 a.m., the birds
which had just finished a meal at 2 a.m. will have been off feed for eight hours at processing.
The birds in the barn which were just about to start a meal at 2 a.m. (and had eaten their last
meal at 10 p.m.) will have been off-feed 12 hours at the time of processing. Because not all
birds eat at the same time, there is a range of off-feed times between individual birds when a
flock is processed.

The range in withdrawal times between birds in a flock can be further increased by binge eating
(irregular eating pattern). Two possible causes of binge eating are light restriction and cool
temperatures. When the lights are turned off for more than four hours at a time, the birds will
become hungry and binge eat when the lights are turned back on to try to make up for the feed
they did not eat when the barn was dark. If the barn is too cool, birds in the barn will sit on the
floor and be reluctant to stand up and make way for birds that want to walk to the feeders. If the
barn temperature is just 3 C (5ºF) too cool, half the birds may have to be hungry before enough
birds will stand up and allow easy access to the feeders. At the time feed is withdrawn from a
flock that binge eats, some of the birds may have just finished a meal and others may not have
eaten for five or six hours.

Natural Cycle

The events observed in broiler chickens as time off-feed progresses are part of a natural cycle
that occurs every night in chickens in the wild. In nature, chickens eat during the day and rest at
night. Their intestines empty during the night and the intestinal lining begins to slough. The
sloughing occurs because birds do not maintain the flow of blood to an intestinal lining that is
not absorbing food. At the same time, cecal dumping and reverse peristalsis helps to carry the
fermented nutrients from the ceca into the intestine. This material is rich in B vitamins produced
by bacteria in the ceca and helps wild birds meet their nutritional requirements.
Examination of Digestive Tracts of Birds at Different Stages of Feed Withdrawal

A bird’s digestive tract will undergo a fairly typical pattern of change as time off-feed
progresses. By knowing the signs of how the digestive tract changes, it is possible to examine
viscera on the processing line and estimate how long individual birds have been off-feed.
Careful observation also provides signs of improper feed and water withdrawal. Some of the
signs to watch for are outlined below.

Zero Hours of Feed Withdrawal

Feed and digesta are found in the crop, stomach
(proventriculus), gizzard and intestine. Because it is
full of digesta, the intestine is round and tubular and
will remain round as long as it is prepared to accept
new feed (up to about four hours after the last meal).
Some isolated areas of the intestine will not contain
digesta due to the peristaltic muscle movements which
move feed through the intestine in “waves.” The gut
wall is very elastic and curls back on itself when cut
open lengthwise. As long as feed is passing through
the gut, the ceca dump their contents on a regular
basis and will be relatively small compared to later
stages of feed withdrawal. Feed in intestine

Two Hours of Feed Withdrawal

As long as the birds have had two or three drinks
of water, most of the feed in the crop has been
solubilized and passed into the stomach and
gizzard. The crop is almost completely empty and
the duodenum (loop of intestine immediately after
the gizzard) is starting to empty.

Crop is opened to reveal small

amount of soft feed remaining.

Four Hours of Feed Withdrawal

The crop is empty but the gizzard contains some
feed. The gizzard is a “hang down” organ and
generally passes out feed only as new feed
enters. Since the bird has stopped eating, no
new feed is entering the gizzard to push out the
remaining feed. The gizzard empties only if the
bird drinks excess water or after a long feed
withdrawal time.
The gall bladder is small but will start to increase
in size as feed is no longer passing through the Intestines are still rounded.
upper half of the intestine. The liver will start to
shunt bile to the gall bladder to be stored instead of passing it on to the intestine. Liver
colour has not yet changed. For the most part, the intestine still has a rounded, tubular
appearance.
Six Hours of Feed Withdrawal
Ideally, the gizzard contains firm, dry material which is comprised mostly of feed. The last
feed to enter the gizzard has been squeezed hard by the gizzard muscle, helping to “wring
out” most of the moisture in the feed. If the bird drank excess water after emptying the
crop, the gizzard will contain watery fluid and the last feed in the gizzard will be in the
intestine. Due to reduced peristaltic muscle movement, this material may remain in the
intestine for ten hours until the gut lining breaks down and creates sufficient liquid in the gut
to help flush out the remaining feed. Until then, this material is often trapped in the last third
of the intestine. It is desirable to keep the last feed in the gizzard.

Ideal gizzard with firm dry feed.

Empty gizzard with fluid inside.

The top half of the intestine starts to flatten due to the absence of digesta. The size of the
duodenum is at a minimum at this time. Afterwards, it will get larger in both length and
diameter due to gas production. The duodenum lies in the portion of the body which will be
cut by the body cavity opener and vent cutter as the carcass hangs on the processing line
in the plant. A small duodenum is less likely to be cut during this process.

The intestines have their maximum breaking strength and will maintain this resistance to
breakage for the next six hours. After 12 hours off-feed, intestine breaking strength
declines dramatically. The gall bladder is still small but starting to increase in size as the
liver begins to shunt bile to it.

Eight Hours of Feed Withdrawal

(Start of First Window)
The duodenal loop is enlarged due to the gas
production that occurs as the gut lining breaks down
and bacteria numbers increase. The rest of the
intestinal lining is intact and very little of it will release
when lightly scraped with scissors. Cutting open the
intestine at mid-gut (at Meckel’s diverticulum or the
yolk stalk remnant) will reveal villi in good condition. If
a finger is placed under the intestine and scissors are Intestinal lining readily scrapes
used to scrape the exposed villi on that section of off exposed duodenum.
intestine, a rough surface similar to a cat’s tongue
can be felt. The intestine is almost completely empty of feed and most of the intestine is
flat. Small amounts of gas are present in the intestine.

Some gas may be observed in

Intestine is empty but villi are intact. the intestine.
Very little lining will scrape off.

The liver has now been depleted of glycogen for several hours and is darker and smaller
than at zero hours of withdrawal.

Twelve Hours of Feed Withdrawal

(End of First Window)
Most of the intestine (beyond the duodenum) is
flattened. Flattened intestines are less likely to be
nicked, cut or torn when the body cavity opener and
vent cutter cut into the carcass as it hangs on the
processing line. The villi are not as easy to feel when
performing the “cat’s tongue” scratch test and the
intestine does not readily curl back on itself when cut
lengthwise. From this point on, a steady decline in
intestinal breaking strength occurs.

Flattened intestine
Thirteen Hours of Feed Withdrawal
Enough broken down intestinal lining has
accumulated in the duodenum to trigger the
gall bladder to release bile. Reverse
peristalsis, the backward movement of
material which regularly occurs in chicken
digestive tracts, carries the bile from the
intestine into the gizzard. Some of this bile
may then run back into the crop during
processing. Green bile staining of the gizzard
is a good indicator that a bird has been off
feed for 13 hours or longer. Some gall
bladders now start to appear smaller as they
dump their bile contents.

Green gizzard contents

Coagulated protein may appear in the gizzard. This
protein is from broken down gutting lining that has
been carried into the gizzard by reverse peristalsis.
The protein coagulates when it reacts with the acid
in the gizzard, much the same way cottage cheese
forms when the protein in milk reacts with an acid.

Bile in a cut open crop

Fifteen to Seventeen Hours of Feed Withdrawal

The intestine is almost entirely rounded as it

fills with gas and gas may bubble out if the
intestine is nicked. The entire gut lining is
broken down and sloughed lining is found in
much of the intestine. Almost nothing is felt
when performing the “cat’s tongue” scratch
test to detect villi. Due to dehydration, the
crop tends to stick to the carcass and is
difficult to pull out; crops and sometimes
stomachs will break as the viscera are
removed from the carcass. The gizzards are
becoming more difficult to peel.

Gas bubbling out of nicked

intestine.

Lining readily scrapes off most of Orange tinged, sloughed

intestine. intestinal lining.
Eighteen Hours of Feed Withdrawal
(Start of Second Window)

The broken down intestinal lining has passed out of

the bird and the intestinal villi are starting to rebuild.
The villi can be detected with the “cat’s tongue”
scratch test and little material scrapes off when
scissors are run over the exposed intestinal lining.
The intestine is now flattened again and little gas
production is visible. The intestine has lost about
one-third of its breaking strength during the past six
hours and the crops are still difficult to remove due
to dehydration. Contamination is lower than
“between the windows” because the intestines are Rebuilt intestinal lining
now empty and relatively dry instead of being filled
with gas and sloughed intestinal lining. If the bird
does not receive feed in the next several hours, the intestinal lining will begin to slough
again.

A Guide to Judging Time of Withdrawal After First Window Has Passed

Signs Feed Withdrawal Has Extended Beyond First Window (13+ Hours)
− Crops and stomachs break more easily during processing.
− Gizzards and sometimes crops are stained green with bile.
− Some gizzards are completely empty.
− Gizzards are tougher to peel.
− More gizzards contain feathers, litter or feces.
− Denatured protein (“cottage cheese”) is found in some gizzards.
− Some gall bladders (those that have not dumped their contents) are greatly enlarged.
− Bile, urates or orange casts (sloughed lining) are seen in the truck crates or floor.

Signs Feed Withdrawal Has Reached Second Window

− Smaller, shorter duodenum.
− Flattened intestine.
− Little sloughing or gas in intestine.
− Can feel villi during “cat’s tongue” scratch test.
− Some or all of signs of extended withdrawal listed above.

Do Not Be Fooled by False Signs

− Reverse peristalsis can bring previously sloughed material back into the duodenum. If
the villi are rejuvenated, the sloughed material in the duodenum is old.
− Feed found in the crop could be due to water run back from the gizzard. Suspect this
problem if the gizzard is empty.
− Excess water consumption can flush bile out of the gizzard. Bile staining may not be
observed in every bird after 13 hours of withdrawal. Watch for excess fluid.
Frequently Asked Questions

“Can you weigh livers or ceca to determine time off-feed?”

No. The absolute weight of the liver and ceca can vary with diet and strain of broiler. The
weight of these organs cannot be used to easily predict how long a bird has been without
feed.

“Should the gizzards be completely empty?”

Ideally, the gizzards will contain a small amount of dry feed at the time of processing.
Empty gizzards are signs of extended withdrawal time or excess water consumption.

“Should you turn the water off after withdrawing feed?”

The birds need enough water to solubilize and pass all the feed in the crop (usually about
two hours of water after feed withdrawal). With broiler strains that drink excess water after
the crop empties, the water should be turned off after all of the feed in the crop has been
passed.

“Will birds pass feed while on the truck?”

Birds will normally continue to pass feed and empty their digestive tracts while on the truck.
If they pant or are chilled, passage of digesta will slow. A rough ride on bumpy roads can
also slow the rate of passage.

“Should lighting programs be avoided?”

The hours of light should be restricted enough to control ascites. Beyond that, dark periods
of more than four hours should be avoided because they encourage binge eating.

“Should the feed pans be totally empty?”

Some growers wait for the feed pans in the barn to be totally empty before determining that
the birds are off-feed. By the time the feed pans are totally empty, however, the birds will
have already been effectively without feed for four or five hours. The last 500 g (½ lb.) of
feed in a feed pan is mostly fines and the birds will take four or five hours to finish these
fines, compared to the half-hour needed to consume a similar amount of pellets or
crumbles. As an example, if the feed pans are raised at 2 a.m. and the pans are totally
empty, the birds will have been off-feed since 10 p.m. or earlier. Because of the powdery
texture and elevated mineral content of the fines, birds will take themselves off-feed before
the feed pans are totally empty.

Economics of Feed Withdrawal

After food stops passing through the intestine, all living animals begin to lose weight. A 1.80 kg
broiler chicken will lose about 5 grams of body weight for every extra hour of feed withdrawal.
Because of this weight loss, feed to gain ratio will increase by 0.005 for each additional hour of
feed withdrawal. As an example, a 1.80 kg bird with a feed conversion of 1.85 when processed
at eight hours off-feed (first window) will weigh 1.75 kg and have a feed conversion of 1.90 if
processed at 18 hours of feed withdrawal (second window). Because the grower has already
invested all the feed and time needed to produce this bird, the lost weight is lost profit. This lost
weight cannot be recovered by putting the carcass in the chill tank because the carcass will not
hold any more water than normal and any extra water taken up will weep out.
Carcass yield at the processing plant should be calculated as a percentage of weight when the
birds are initially taken off-feed, and not as the weight of the birds when they arrive at the plant.
When feed is first removed, the digestive tract initially shrinks in weight faster than the edible
portion of the carcass. After an extended withdrawal time, birds arrive at the plant with small
digestive tracts that account for a lower proportion of their body weight than at the start of feed
withdrawal. Based on the weight of the birds when they arrive at the plant, the percent loss of
weight during evisceration may be lower and the carcass yield higher than in a bird processed
after less time off-feed. The carcass yield may increase even though the total amount of edible
meat on the carcass has decreased since the start of feed withdrawal. Carcass yields based on
the weight of the birds at the time of feed withdrawal better reflect the true loss in saleable
product as feed withdrawal is extended.

Summary

Proper feed withdrawal will reduce carcass contamination and improve a producer’s bottom
line. By understanding the birds’ eating patterns and how the digestive tract reacts to time off-
feed, you can better judge how to withdraw feed from your birds. The goal should be to process
as many birds as possible after they have passed most of their feed, but before the intestinal
lining has started to slough. Flocks handled in this manner will process more easily, with less
contamination, fewer broken crops and stomachs, and increased edible meat delivered to the
plant.

Acknowledgements

The information in this factsheet is based on the Chicken Feed Withdrawal Workshop held on
April 25, 2001 at the University of Manitoba. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Stan Savage,
retired Poultry Extension Specialist at the University of Georgia, and the workshop would not
have been possible without his expertise. The workshop was organized by Manitoba Agriculture
and Food and the Animal Science Department at the University of Manitoba.

Reference

Stan Savage. 1998. Feed Withdrawal: A practical look at its effect on intestine emptying,
contamination and yield. Pfizer Inc..

C. Bennett, August, 2002

Animal Industry Branch,
Manitoba Agriculture and Food