Effects of feeding frequency on food intake,growth and body composition of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri)

The effects of feeding frequency on food intake, weight change and relative proportions of the major body components were investigated at 10°C in a strain of hatchery-reared rainbow trout. Feeding frequencies were from one meal every second day to six meals per day, within the range common to current piscicultural techniques. Fish were fed a dry, pelleted diet either to satiation at each meal, or in restricted total daily amounts based on a percentage of their wet body weight. All fish were forced to swim at a constant speed of approximately one body length per second to minimize variability in growth and body composition.Maximum daily food intake occurred with just two feedings to satiation per day. Growth closely paralleled food intake. Neither specific growth rate nor whole body levels of moisture, lipid or protein were affected significantly by differences in feeding frequency. A trend towards increased body fat with more frequent feeding was observed among fish fed to satiation at each meal; this was believed to be the result of a somewhat higher total food intake than among less frequently fed fish. Fish fed a restricted daily ration divided into a number of meals exhibited smaller differences in lipid content.The general lack of response to feeding frequency was attributed primarily to the low metabolic rate of trout and to the characteristically slow rate of food passage in the digestive tract.