This study evaluated the performance parameters, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of Label Rouge chickens raised under an alternative system as a function of age at slaughter. The design was completely randomized with a 5×2 factorial arrangement, with slaughtering at five ages (70, 90, 120, 150, and 180 days) and two sexes. A total of 240 birds (Pescoço Pelado strain) were used, including 120 females and 120 males. Performance, carcass, physicochemical, proximate composition, and muscle fiber traits were evaluated. Rearing time and sex had significant effects on performance-related traits, with better results for males. The interaction between slaughter age and sex had a significant effect on the carcass and physicochemical parameters, which cause different responses in males and females with increasing slaughter age. For the proximate composition and muscle fiber analysis, the interaction between the parameters studied only had a significant effect on ether extract in the breast. The increase in age resulted in chickens with higher live and carcass weight at slaughter but lower performance indices. Females had lower carcass yield and greater deposition of abdominal fat. Females had lower tenderness in the drumstick and males in the breast with increasing slaughter age, and both cuts had more intense color and redness and reduced lightness starting at the slaughter age of 90 days.
This research study aimed to evaluate the influence of sexual maturity on meat quality parameters in chickens raised in a free-range system. The fully randomized design (FRD) used a (2x2) factorial scheme, with two sexes (male and female) and two categories of sexual maturity (immature and mature). Ninety birds (45 females and 45 males) belonging to the Label Rouge (Pescoço Pelado) strain were slaughtered at five different ages (70, 90, 120, 150, and 180 days). The physicochemical parameters, centesimal composition and shelf life of the meat were assessed. In both breast and leg cuts, sexual maturity promoted an increase in shear force and affected the meat color by increasing its redness (a*). Moisture was higher in leg meat after sexual maturity. In both breast and leg cuts, ether extract was higher in sexually mature females. Sexual maturity also caused a decrease in tenderness and shorter shelf life of the meat.
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