Poultry meat quality has been widely studied, and has become a growing demand of the international market. Parameters that affect meat quality are complex, and occur throughout the production chain. The constant concern with meat quality by the exporting sectors is a response to consumers' demands, and is achieved by increasing efficiency, and investments in personnel training on quality. Understanding where critical points are in the poultry meat production chain, and investing in solving critical problems may lead to better control and management, and consequent reduction of losses. Production and management practices, from farm to processing plant, play an important role in meat quality, and the use of technologies to reduce risk factors throughout the production chain will allow the production of better quality poultry meat not only for exports, but also for the domestic market. This review describes the main factors that influence poultry meat quality in the production chain.

In the Brazilian meat production scenario broiler production is the most dynamic segment. Despite of the knowledge generated in the poultry production chain, there are still important gaps on Brazilian rearing conditions as housing is different from other countries. This research study aimed at analyzing the variation in bird skin surface as function of heat distribution inside broiler houses. A broiler house was virtually divided into nine sectors and measurements were made during the first four weeks of the grow-out in a commercial broiler farm in the region of Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil. Rearing ambient temperature and relative humidity, as well as light intensity and air velocity, were recorded in the geometric center of each virtual sector to evaluate the homogeneity of these parameters. Broiler surface temperatures were recorded using infrared thermography. Differences both in surface temperature (Ts) and dry bulb temperature (DBT) were significant (p<0.05) as a function of week of rearing. Ts was different between the first and fourth weeks (p<0.05) in both flocks. Results showed important variations in rearing environment parameters (temperature and relative humidity) and in skin surface temperature as a function of week and house sector. Air velocity data were outside the limits in the first and third weeks in several sectors. Average light intensity values presented low variation relative to week and house sector. The obtained values were outside the recommended ranges, indicating that broilers suffered thermal distress. This study points out the need to record rearing environment data in order to provide better environmental control during broiler grow-out

This paper describes an exploratory study carried out to determine critical control points and possible risks in hatcheries and broiler farms. The study was based in the identification of the potential hazards existing in broiler production, from the hatchery to the broiler farm, identifying critical control points and defining critical limits. The following rooms were analyzed in the hatchery: egg cold storage, pre-heating, incubator, and hatcher rooms. Two broiler houses were studied in two different farms. The following data were collected in the hatchery and broiler houses: temperature (ºC) and relative humidity (%), air velocity (m s-1), ammonia levels, and light intensity (lx). In the broiler house study, a questionnaire using information of the Broiler Production Good Practices (BPGP) manual was applied, and workers were interviewed. Risk analysis matrices were build to determine Critical Control Points (CCP). After data collection, Statistical Process Control (SPC) was applied through the analysis of the Process Capacity Index, using the software program Minitab15®. Environmental temperature and relative humidity were the critical points identified in the hatchery and in both farms. The classes determined as critical control points in the broiler houses were poultry litter, feeding, drinking water, workers' hygiene and health, management and biosecurity, norms and legislation, facilities, and activity planning. It was concluded that CCP analysis, associated with SPC control tools and guidelines of good production practices, may contribute to improve quality control in poultry production

The objective of the present study was to characterize the scientific production regarding the factors that influence broiler chicken production, and that were published from 2000 to 2015 in journals indexed in the database of Google Scholar, Scielo, and ScienceDirect. The research was done in the Thermal Comfort Laboratory at FEAGRI-UNICAMP, and the concept of the systematic review was applied. The research criterion was initially defined (the keywords) aiming to identify and evaluate the variables that describe the experimental characteristics and the animals. The primary keywords identified were: broiler chicken from commercial strains, broiler production, rearing conditions, thermal environment, air quality, acoustic environment, light intensity, management, and heat stress. Those were the key words searched in the database of the online libraries. The selected articles were registered into an electronic spreadsheet with the title, the name of the authors, year of publication, language, the journal where it was published, the keyword, the period when the research was done, source/ database, and the abstract. A total of 167 articles were selected, and only 34 were added to the review. The use of the systematic review of the literature allowed identifying the main variables that positively influence the broiler performance, such as the temperature near the thermal comfort, the use of roof lining, besides the use of adiabatic cooling and cast bricks in the laterals. The presence of positive ventilation, as well as the use of yellow curtains and constant lighting, has also influenced a better performance to broilers.

Intensive broiler production in tropical climates requires adequate air circulation to control heat stress. Excess of air speed may lead to dust production and reduction of air quality and, consequently, production parameters. Brazilian regulations prohibit the presence of pathogens that may deteriorate air quality, and the presence of fungi in the air inside the poultry houses is limited to 750CFU/m³. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of fungi in two distinct types of broiler houses. The research compared two types of air ventilation: conventional (G1) and positive tunnel ventilation (G2). The fungi were collected using a dust sampling pump, with the air flow calibrated to 1.5 L/min. The filter impregnated with dust was submitted to growth for two days using five Petri dishes. Microbiology analysis showed that there were 1,239 CFU and 2,011 CFU in G1 and G2, respectively. The different genera of fungi found and their percentages were: Penicillium 29.16%, Aspergillus 37.5% and Fusarium 29.16% in G1 and Penicillium 33.34%, Aspergillus 26.64%, Fusarium 23.34% and Neurospora 3.34% in G2

Morphological asymmetry has been described as a potential broiler welfare indicator, for interpreting the birds' ability to cope with the challenges that may affect its growth. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of morphological asymmetry data to estimate broiler walking ability and welfare.dBroilers werefed diets supplemented or not with vitamin D. Toes were measured when birds were 42 and 49 days old using digital caliper.the left and right sides of the following four bilateral traits (tarsometatarsus length, outer toe length, mid toe length, and back toe length) were measured twice on intact alive birds by two different researcherh. Data from right and left sides were compared in the two treatments using the Student t-test, and Pearson's correlation was used to analyze the total asymmetry found as a result of the total sum of the differences in the measurements. Asymmetry data were comparedwith the total numberof leg lesions. Mid toe and tarsometatarsus asymmetry resultswere considered as actual fluctuating asymmetry, and presented normal distribution (Test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov, p >0.05). However, back toe and outer toe measurements were not normally distributed, as determined by the test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov (p <0.05), indicating anti-asymmetry; when comparing right with left limb,results were significantly different fron zero (t-Student, p <0.05) indicating directional fluctuating asymmetry.The welfare of broilers withwalking difficulty due to the presence of severe asymmetry in limbs is poor

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Health status, feed conversion ratio, and mortality are long known broiler chicken production indicators. However, further parameters are required by today's demanding meat markets, as these indicators are not sufficiently accurate to determine flock overall welfare. Morphological asymmetry has been pointed as an alternative welfare indicator as it reflects the ability of the bird to cope with the challenges that rearing conditions may impose. This study aimed at evaluating the possibility of using morphological asymmetry as a welfare indicator. Broilers from 28 to 42 days of age were used in the trial. Birds were randomly selected in a commercial poultry farm and transported to the laboratory. They walked over the force measurement platform in order to determined their feet force as a percentage of body weight. The following body parts of the live birds were measured by two different operators using a digital caliper: tarsometatarsus length, outertoe length, midtoe length, and backtoe length. In the corresponding carcasses, the following traits were measured: wattle width, eye length, and first secondary feather length. Data were submitted to statistical analyses and no correlation was found between specific feet trait measurements and walking ability. Considering the time budget involved in measuring morphological asymmetry, this procedure did not appear to be a practically feasible welfare indicator