This research was carried out to evaluate the use of pre-starter diets, through different periods to broilers with different first day weights. Two hundred and eighty one-day old chicks were allotted in brooded battery cages, in a completely randomized design, with six treatments and four replicates in a factorial design 2 x 3, (chicks weight - higher or lower than 40 g, and pre-starter periods of feeding, 1 to 7; 1 to 10 and 1 to 14 days). The performance was not influenced by pre-starter diets periods, but the first-day weight of chicks reduced feed intake and live weight at 42 days of age. For energy and nutrient intake no effect was observed for pre-starter periods, but for the light chicks, the values of consumption were lower than heavier ones for all nutrients and energy. It is possible to conclude that chicks with less than 40 grams one-day weight influenced the reduction in feed intake and the weight gain. For the measures of the different relationship among the inside organs no differences were observed.
broilers; pre-starter rations; one-day chicks weight; performance
