Productive performance of Mexican Creole chickens from hatching to 12 weeks of age fed diets with different concentrations of metabolizable energy and crude protein.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the productive performance, carcass yield, size of digestive organs and nutrient utilization in Mexican Creole chickens, using four diets with different concentrations of metabolizable energy (ME, kcal/kg) and crude protein (CP, %).

Methods: Two hundred thirty-six chickens, coming from eight incubation batches, were randomly distributed to four experimental diets with the following ME/CP ratios: 3,000/20, 2,850/19, 2,700/18 and 2,550/17. Each diet was evaluated with 59 birds from hatching to 12 weeks of age.