The effects of dietary protein sources (fish meal, soybean meal, poultry by-
product meal and poultry offal meal), dietary lipid sources (cottonseed oil and poultry
fat) and sex on live performance and carcass composition and distribution of tissues
over the carcass were studied. Dietary protein and lipid sources significantly affected live body weight at 6
weeks of age. At this age chicks fed poultry by-product meal had significantly heavier
live body weight than those fd either soybean meal or fish meal. Feed intake and
feed conversion were not significantly affected by dietary lipid sources, but differed
significantly between dietary protein sources. Feed: gain ratio was markedly less
efficient in birds fed soybean meal than those fed the other dietary protein sources.
Carcass composition differed significantly between birds fed different dietary protein.
Carcasses of chicks fed diet supplemented with poultry fat had more muscle and less
fat than carcasses of chicks fed diet supplemented with cottonseed oil. The proportion
of bone in carcass was not significantly affected by dietary lipid sources. Compared
with female, male had similar proportions of muscle and bone with less proportion of
fat. Dietary protein sources and sex did not influence the distribution of muscle
throughout the carcass parts. Dietary protein and lipids sources had no significant
effect on fat weight distribution. Sex differences in fat weight distribution were not
significant. The proportion of total carcass bone in breast, thigh and wing were
significantly affected by protein source diets. Dietary fat sources had no significant
effect on bone weight distribution .. Significant differences in protein x lipid and sex x
lipid interactions were found for the proportions of total muscle in breast, thigh and
drumstick.