ABSTRACT
The food production system needs to be sustainable including poultry sector to feed the increasing global population. An accepted economical and environmental approach of broiler production is to produce larger broilers faster while using less feed. Broiler production is aimed at producing consumable meat and meat products. The global broiler meat market has evolved over the years with increasing selection pressure shifted toward attaining yield characteristics for increased cut-up parts such as breast and thighs. There is a shift toward a big bird market in the U.S. with approximately 70% of the broiler meat produced from large birds (>2.72 kg). Genetic selection of broilers for quantitative traits such as growth rate and lean muscle mass without increasing the fat mass has altered broiler physiological homeostasis to adapt toward the larger rates of muscle protein turnover. Physiological stresses created due to selection pressures in broilers have produced several muscle myopathies including an emerging one called woody breast myopathy. The sustainable broiler production practice may require humane consideration of raising broilers in less stressful grow-out regimes that will have minimal impact on broiler metabolic health. Another sustainability approach of broiler production toward feed efficiency lies on understanding dietary formulation approach of amino acids and energy that promote optimal nutrient utilization and minimal nutrient output to environment while also fulfilling the growth demands and body composition changes associated with increased protein gain in current meat broilers brought by the genetic progress.
