Assessment of meat quality attributes of four commercial broiler strains processed at various market weights.

As the demand for poultry meat continues to rise, industry production is constantly challenged with obtaining consumer needs. Integrators have answered this increasing demand by improving the growth rate of broilers allowing for increased production efficiently. The resulting broiler produces higher yields and a larger quantity of fresh poultry to satisfy consumer needs. However, this increase in efficiency has cost integrators as new quality issues continue to manifest through global production. Therefore, the objective of the current experiment was to evaluate the effect of genetic strain (standard and high yielding) and target weight on meat quality attributes such as pH, water holding capacity (WHC), and tenderness, alongside meat quality defects such as breast and tender myopathies. In the current study, 1,800 broilers from 4 commercial strains (2 high breast yielding (HY) and 2 standard yielding (SY) were raised sex separate to evaluate meat quality trends over time at 6 previously defined market weights. Birds were processed at weights ranging from 2,043 to 4,313 g in 454 g increments. HY strains produced higher breast and tender yields than those of SY strains (P < 0.05). There was an increase in breast and tender yield as target weight increased (P < 0.05) for both HY and SY strains. Differences were observed between strains for all fillet dimensions (P < 0.05); however, these measurements increased as target weight increased as expected. Woody breast (WB) had a higher severity (P < 0.05) in HY strains over SY strains, for both males and females. Differences were observed in white striping (WS; P < 0.05) for females in both strains, but no differences were observed in males. A main effect of target was noticed for both WB and WS (P < 0.05), expressing increased severity as target weight increased. Shear values were influenced more by target weight (P < 0.05), but inconsistent differences were observed between HY and SY groups. Meullenet-Owens Razor Shear (MORS) energy values increased slightly as target weights increased (P < 0.05) from 2,951 to 4,313 g in both males and females, but differences were minor and inconsistent with the smaller carcass weights. The MORS peak counts generally increased as target weight increased for both sexes. While strain had minimal effects on meat quality attributes, processing weight had a greater influence on quality, specifically muscle myopathies, WHC, and shear properties.

Meat quality attributes of male and female broilers from 4 commercial strains processed for 2 market programs.

In recent times, meat quality has become a key aspect of poultry production. In the current study, 2,400 sex separate broilers from 4 commercial strains were placed in 6 replications to evaluate various meat quality characteristics when grown to 2 market weights. Broilers were fed 1 of 2 diets with varying degrees of amino acid inclusion to evaluate meat quality of broiler raised on varying planes of nutrition. Birds were processed to meet 2 specified target weights (2.5 and 3.8 kg) representing small bird and big bird debone markets in the United States, respectively. Birds were processed using commercial methods, deboned at 3-h postmortem, and meat quality was assessed. Myopathies (woody breast, white striping, spaghetti meat, along with tenderloin quality), fillet dimensions, color, water-holding capacity (e.g., drip loss, cook loss), and Meullenet Owens Razor Shear was determined. Data were analyzed using the Mixed Model platform of JMP Pro 15.2 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Diet had no effect (P > 0.05) on the key quality responses; data were then pooled resulting in main effects of sex, strain, and target weight (noted as carcass size). On the day of processing, high yielding (HY) strains produced higher breast and tender yields (P < 0.05) when compared to standard yielding (SY) strains. In addition, and as expected, females exhibited higher breast and tender yields (P < 0.05) than males. However, males had significantly thicker (P < 0.05) and longer (P < 0.05) fillets, higher incidences (P < 0.05) of white striping, and higher (P < 0.05) cook loss when compared to females. Differences were also observed in tenderness as SY strain A produced the lowest shear values, whereas SY strain B produced the highest shear values across parameters (P < 0.05). SY strains in the small bird (SB) market performed better than SY strains in the big bird (BB) market as indicated by lower incidences of breast and tender myopathies white striping, woody breast, spaghetti meat, woody-like tender, and tender feathering and improved quality attributes (P < 0.05). Similar trends were observed (P < 0.05) in HY strains as SB carcasses produced a better overall product than BB. Differences in carcass size directly impacted quality (P < 0.05) as SB markets showed improvements in most parameters assessed, but broilers representing BB markets had greater breast yield. Although strain had minimal impacts on quality measures, carcass size, and sex had a greater impact on muscle myopathies, water-holding capacity, and shear properties.

A comparison of formic acid or monoglycerides to formaldehyde on production efficiency, nutrient absorption, and meat yield and quality of Cobb 700 broilers.

After being banned by the European Commission in 2018, the use of formaldehyde as a feed amendment in the United States has come into question. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore alternatives to formaldehyde, such as formic acid and monoglycerides, and their effects on poultry production. In total, 1,728 Cobb 700 broilers were randomly assigned to 96-floor pens on day of hatch (18 birds/pen). Using a randomized complete block design (4 blocks), treatments were assigned to pens with blocking based on location within the barn, with the eastern half of the barn designated for digestibility and the western half designated for production (per experiment: 8 control pens and 10 pens per treatment). All diets were based on a negative control (NC), basal diet. Dietary treatments consisted of: NC, NC + 0.25% formalin (F), NC + 0.25 and 0.50% Amasil NA (AML and AMH; 61% formic acid and 20.5% Na-formate), and NC + SILO Health 104L (SILO; mixture of monoglycerides; 0.5% from 0 to 14 d, 0.4% from 14 to 28 d, and 0.2% from 28 to 42 d). Water and feed were provided ad libitum. Performance data were collected during feed changes on d 0, 14, 28, and 42, with digestibility data collected at d 14 (2 per pen) and carcass quality (6 per pen) assessed at d 46 with a randomly selected group of broilers. A one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's multiple comparison, where treatments were evaluated against F were conducted using JMP 14.0 (P ≤ 0.05). Main effect of treatment was significant for performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass quality. Differences in body weight and ADG were observed from d 14 to d 28, resulting in a trending improvement in lysine digestibility on d 14 and carcass quality on d 46 of birds fed AML and AMH in comparison to those fed F (P < 0.05). Whereas birds fed SILO had reduced digestibility of methionine on d 14 and a decrease in meat quality on d 46 in comparison to those fed F (P < 0.05). Therefore, Amasil NA at 0.25 or 0.50% may be an effective alternative to formaldehyde as a feed amendment for poultry production.