The objective of the study was to compare the carcass characteristics, meat quality, and blood parameters of slow and fast grown female broiler chickens fed in organic or conventional production system. The two genotypes tested were medium slow-growing chickens (SG, Hubbard Red JA) and commercial fast-growing chickens (FG, Ross 308). Both genotypes (each represented by 400 chickens) were divided into two sub-groups fed either organic (O) or conventional (C) systems. Chickens of each genotype and system were raised in a semi environmentally controlled poultry house until 21 d of age and were assigned to 5 pens of 40 chickens each. Then, O system chickens were transferred into an open-side poultry house with an outdoor run. At 81 d of age, 10 female chickens from each genotype and from each production system (n = 40) were randomly chosen to provide material for analysis, and were weighed and brought to the slaughterhouse to assess carcass characteristics and meat quality. The blood parameters were determined by using 5 female chickens from each genotype and from each production system (n = 20). FG had the higher live weight, along with carcass, breast, and thigh-drumstick weights compared to SG (p<0.05). FG had the higher breast yield, whereas SG had the higher thigh-drumstick yield (p<0.05). The O system resulted in a higher amount of abdominal fat (p<0.05). In addition, the O system values were higher for dry matter, crude ash, crude protein, and pH15 values in breast meat, and for crude ash, crude protein, and pH15 values in drumstick meat (p<0.05). In addition, total saturated fatty acids, total mono-unsaturated fatty acids, and total omega 3 were significantly higher in the O system than in the C system. Thus, the O system showed a positive advantage compared to the C system regarding female chicken meat quality, primarily within the ash, protein, and total omega 3 fatty acid profiles. In conclusion, the present study indicated that the main factor affecting the carcass characteristics of female chickens was genotype, whereas the organic system contributed to enhanced meat quality. These findings provide a better understanding of the relative roles of genotype and production systems in female broiler characteristics, and might aid producers in designing their facilities to optimize yield and quality while maintaining acceptable animal welfare standards.

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of dietary prebiotic (mannan oligosaccharide = MOS) and probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae = SC) in finishing turkey diets on carcass, cut yield, meat composition and colour. A total of 72 ten-weeksold Big6 male turkey poults were used in the trial. There were eight replicate floor pens per floor with three birds in each. The experiment lasted up to 20 wks of age. The trial was set up as a completely randomized design with 3 dietary treatments. The treatments were: i) negative control (C, no additive); ii) MOS 1 g per kg of diet and iii) SC 1 g per kg of diet (strain SC47, 300×10 10 CFU/kg). Body weight (BW) and feed intake were determined for each of the two week intervals. Twenty-four birds were slaughtered and eviscerated to determine carcass, carcass parts and internal organ weights at 20 wks of age. Meat colour and pH levels were measured 24 h after slaughter. The dietary treatments did not affect BW and average daily gain during the trial (p>0.05). The average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio of turkey toms fed with MOS were higher than those of control and SC groups during the overall period (p<0.05). The dietary treatments did not affect carcass yield, breast meat, thigh, wing, liver, heart, empty gizzard, intestine, and abdominal fat pad proportions and meat pH, composition and pigmentation (p>0.05). These results suggest that the addition of MOS and SC is not likely to produce any performance or carcass characteristics in finishing turkeys at 10 to 20 wks of age.

No abstract

Objective:The experiment was conducted to determine the individual and combined effects of probiotic, prebiotic and enzyme on performance, carcase, organs, intestinal pH and viscosity of broilers. Material and Methods: A total of seven hundred day-old male Ross-308 broiler chicks were individually weighted and distributed into 28 floor pens with 25 chicks per pen in from 0 to 42 d of age. Seven starter and grower diets were formulated to provide a similar nutrient profile with the exception of using experimental feed additives (1 g per kg) or a combined addition of these additives (0.5 g+0.5 g per kg). The diets were supplemented with: no feed additives (control), probiotic, prebiotic, enzyme, probiotic+prebiotic, probiotic+enzyme mixture, prebiotic+enzyme mixture. Results: Probiotic, probiotic+prebiotic and probiotic+enzyme supplementation significantly increased body weights at 42 days (P<0.05). There were no differences in feed intake, feed conversion ratio, relative weights of the proventriculus, gizzard, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, colon, cecum liver, pancreas, spleen, heart and bursa of broilers among the treatments during the experiment (P>0.05). Intestinal pH and viscosity were decreased by adding feed additives when compared with the control. Conclusion: The synergistic effects between probiotics, prebiotics and enzymes should be further investigated, and suitable combinations and levels should be determined in practice. ÖZAmaç: Deneme, probiyotik, prebiyotik ve enzimin etlik piliçlerde performans, karkas, organlar, bağırsak pH'ı ve viskozitesi üzerine tek başına ve kombine etkilerini belirlemek amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Materyal ve Metot: Bir günlük yaşta 700 adet erkek Ross-308 etlik civciv, bireysel olarak tartılmış ve her bölmede 25 civciv olacak şekilde 28 gruba dağıtılarak 0-42. günler arasında barındırılmıştır. Denemede kullanılan katkı maddeleri dışında benzer besin madde profiline sahip ve kullanılan yem katkı maddesinin tek başına (1 g/kg) veya kombine şekilde (0.5 g/kg+0.5 g/kg) ilave edildiği yedi adet başlatma ve büyütme yemi formülasyonu oluşturulmuştur. Yemler, katkı maddesi içermeyen (kontrol), prebiyotik, enzim, probiyotik+prebiyotik, probiyotik+enzim ve prebiyotik+enzim içerecek şekilde hazırlanmıştır. Bulgular: Probiyotik, probiyotik+prebiyotik ve probiyotik+enzim ilavesi 42. gün canlı ağırlığını önemli derecede artırmıştır (P<0.05). Deneme süresince, gruplar arasında yem tüketimleri, yemden yararlanma oranları ile bezel mide, taşlık, duedonum, jejunum, ileum, kalın bağırsak, kör bağırsak, karaciğer, pancreas, dalak, kalp ve bursanın oransal ağırlıkları bakımından bir farklılık saptanmamıştır (P>0.05). Yem katkısı ilavesinin bağırsak pH'ı ve viskozitesi üzerine önemli bir etkisi belirlenmiştir. Kontrol grubu ile karşılaştırıldığında deneme katkılarının ilavesi ile bağırsak pH'ı ve viskozitesi azalmıştır. Sonuç: Probiyotikler, prebiyotikler ve enzimler arasındaki sinerjik etkiler daha fazla araştırılmalı, pratikte uygun kombinasyonlar ve seviyeler belirlenmelidir.

No abstract