To adapt commercial poultry production to a new scenario of energy savings and to develop specific practices for quail production aimed at reducing costs while maintaining or improving productivity, four experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, birds were allocated to four treatments (photoperiod

The experiment was carried out with the objective of evaluating a methodology to estimate the angulation and equilibrium condition, relating them to gait score and the main diseases of the locomotion system in males and females of commercial broiler strains. A completely randomized experimental design in a factorial arrangement (2x2) was applied, consisting of two sexes and two genetic strains, with five replicates of 53 chickens each. The following characteristics related to broiler locomotion were studied: gait score (GS); incidence of Valgus (VAL) and Varus (VAR) deformities and of pododermatitis (POD); body angle relative the ground (ANG); equilibrium condition (EC); body weight (BW) and breast weight (BrW); and incidence of femoral degeneration (FD), tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) and spondylolisthesis (SPO). GS, and VAL and VAR were assessed inside a broiler house. Birds were then photographed to estimate ANG and EC. Birds were sacrificed at 42 days of age and analyzed for FD, TD, and SPO. Breast percentage was not influenced by sex or strain. Males showed better ANG than females, regardless of strain. Overall, the strains studied showed prostrated EC. The correlation between GS and the evaluated traits was low. There was a moderate to high association between EC and ANG both in males and females. GS showed low correlation with locomotion problems, and therefore, it is a poor indicator of skeletal diseases. On the other hand, the moderate to high correlations of ANG and EC with locomotion problems make them better indicators of bone diseases than gait score, which is possibly more related to EC and body posture than to bone pathologies.

Black bone syndrome (BBS) affects poultry industry, and it is caused by the darkening of the tissue adjacent to the bone due to leak age of bone marrow contents during cooking. The objective of this experiment was to estimate BBS incidence in chicken thighs. A completely randomized experimental design, with two treatments (refrigerated or frozen) of 50 replicates each, was applied. The influence of BBS on meat quality was assessed according to bone lightness (*L), and meat appearance and sensorial characteristics. Lightness was measured using a colorimeter (Minolta® 410R) positioned on the proximal epiphyseal growth plate. Meat quality was evaluated after roasting by assigning scores for appearance (acceptable = no darkening, intermediate = little darkened, and unacceptable = severe darkening). Twelve refrigerated and 12 frozen thighs were used for sensorial analysis (adjacent muscle appearance, odor, tenderness, and flavor), assessed using a hedonic scale (1 = bad to 10 = very good) by trained panelists. Lightness was submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test (p<0.05), and the Wilcoxon test (p<0.05) was used to analyze other characteristics. Confidence intervals were established for BBS based on *L values (<37.5=BBS and >37.5=normal). The incidence of BBS was 35%,with a 16%increase thighs were frozen. Meat taste was not influenced by the treatments. Meat appearance, flavor, and tenderness were not affected by freezing or refrigeration, only by BBS degree. It was concluded that freezing increases the incidence of BBS and chicken thighs with bones presenting lower luminosity have worse meat quality.

RESUMOO crescimento de uma ave depende particularmente do desenvolvimento muscular e do tecido ósseo. Atualmente em frangos de corte o crescimento muscular é extremamente elevado enquanto seu suporte esquelético ainda se encontra muito imaturo, tendo como consequências o aparecimento de afecções locomotoras entre outras. Com os avanços no melhoramento genético avícola, verifica-se que a forma de caminhar e a condição de equilíbrio foram influenciadas negativamente, causando dificuldades de locomoção nesses animais. A presente revisão apresenta as principais desordens locomotoras que acometem as aves de produção e alguns dos fatores que as influenciam, assim como o impacto que elas causam na avicultura de corte.Palavras-chave: angulação, bem-estar, patologias ósseas. ABSTRACTPoultry growth depends particularly of muscle development as well as their bone tissue. Nowadays in broilers, muscle growth is extremely raised while their skeletal support is still very immature, having as consequence the onset of locomotor disorders among others. With advances in poultry breeding, its found that gait and equilibrium condition were negatively impacted, causing mobility problems in these

RESUMOAlguns fatores envolvidos na incidência de síndrome do osso negro e suas consequências na qualidade e aceitação da carne de coxas e sobrecoxas de frangos de corte estão descritos nesta revisão. Sabe-se que a conservação de coxas e sobrecoxas pelo congelamento leva à formação de cristais de gelo que rompem as células da medula óssea, causando extravasamento da hemoglobina presente na mesma, quando o osso está frágil ou poroso acentua-se o extravasamento de sangue que ocorre principalmente pela região proximal na tíbia e no fêmur. O escurecimento causado na carne adjacente ao osso é chamado de síndrome do osso e tem implicações na qualidade da carne, alterando principalmente a aparência da mesma devido ao escurecimento causado. O escurecimento decorrente do sangue extravasado na carne tem implicações na qualidade da mesma e pode resultar em problemas na aceitação de carne de coxa e sobrecoxa. Assim, torna-se necessário providências a longo prazo, com seleção genética focada na estrutura óssea e a curto prazo, com adição de nutrientes que podem melhorar a qualidade óssea.Palavras-chave: distúrbio ósseo, escurecimento da carne, porosidade, qualidade de carne REVIEW: BLACK BONE SYNDROME IN BROILERS ABSTRACT Some factors involved in the incidence of black bone syndrome and its consequences on the quality and acceptability of meat from the thighs and drumsticks of broilers are described in this review. It is know that the conservation of thighs and drumsticks by freezing leads to the formation of ice crystals that disrupt the cells of the bone marrow, causing leakage of hemoglobin present in the same, when the bone is brittle or porous sharpens extravasation of blood the occurs primarily in the proximal tibia and the femur. The darkening caused in meat adjacent the bone is called of black bone syndrome and has implications in meat quality, mainly by changing the appearance of the same due to darkening caused. The darkening resulting from extravasated blood in the meat has implications for the quality in the same and can result in problems acceptance of meat from thigh and drumsticks. Thus, it becomes necessary to provision the long term, genetic screening focused on the bone structure and the short term with the addition of nutrients can improve bone quality.