A considerable segment of the broiler industry in the US grinds corn to approximately 800 μm regardless of the production period of broilers. However, research evaluating optimum corn particle size during each production period is sparse. Therefore, 3 experiments were conducted to determine the effect of corn particle size on growth performance of broilers during the starter, grower, and finisher periods. The experiments consisted of 4 dietary treatments in which broilers received different corn particle sizes depending on the feeding phase: 674, 741, 805, and 912 μm in the starter period from 1 to 14 D of age (experiment 1); 629, 763, 814, and 1,779 μm in the grower period from 14 to 28 D of age (experiment 2); and 615, 863, 1,644, and 2,613 μm in the finisher period from 28 to 42 D of age (experiment 3). In experiments 1 and 2, corn particle size did not influence BW, feed intake (FI), and FCR. In experiment 3, FI increased when broilers were fed with diets containing a corn particle size of 1,644 μm compared with broilers fed with diets containing a corn particle size of 615 μm. However, feeding diets with a corn particle size >1,644 μm increased FCR at 42 D. These data indicated that diets with a corn particle size of 912 and 1,779 μm did not influence growth performance during the starter and grower periods, respectively. However, a corn particle size >1,644 μm can negatively influence FCR during the finisher period from 28 to 42 D of age.

无论肉鸡的生产时间长短，美国肉鸡行业的很大一部分都将玉米粉碎至约800μm。但是，评估每个生产时期的最佳玉米粒度的研究很少。因此，进行了3​​个实验来确定玉米颗粒大小对肉鸡在起育，育成和育肥阶段的生长性能的影响。实验由4种饮食处理组成，在这些饮食处理中，肉鸡在1-14 D年龄的起始阶段，根据饲喂阶段接受不同的玉米粒度：674、741、805和912μm（实验1）；在14至28 D年龄的生长期，分别为629、763、814和1779μm（实验2）；在28至42 D年龄的育肥期中分别为615、863、1,644和2,613μm（实验3）。在实验1和2中，FI）和FCR。在实验3中，与饲喂615μm玉米日粮的肉鸡相比，饲喂肉鸡日粮为1,644μm的肉鸡时FI升高。但是，饲喂玉米粒度大于1,644μm的日粮在42 D时会增加FCR。这些数据表明，玉米粒度为912和1779μm的日粮分别不会影响开始和生长期间的生长性能。但是，玉米粒度> 1,644μm会对28到42 D年龄的育肥期产生负面影响。