Growth, slaughter and gastrointestinal tract traits of three turkey genotypes under barn and free-range housing systems

Abstract

1. This study was conducted to assess the impact of genotype and outdoor access (and gender when appropriate) on growth rate and carcass yield. 2. One slow-growing genotype (Bronze; B, n = 129), a commercial fast-growing genotype (Hybrid; H, n = 186) and a medium-growing genotype (crosses; H x B, n = 78) were housed (straight-run) for 21 weeks of age. Each genotype was assigned to 3 pens of 20-23 birds each and raised in indoor floor pens in a curtain-sided house with ventilation fans; the B, H and H x B genotypes were also assigned to 3, 4 and 2 floor pens (2 m(2) approximately) with outdoor access (during daylight hours), respectively. All animals were fed ad libitum a commercial diet and birds were commercially processed. After reaching the commercial live weight at 17 and 21 weeks of age, 4 birds (two females and two males) per replicate were slaughtered to determine the yields of carcass, breast, and thigh, abdominal fat and edible inner organs. Gastrointestinal tract characteristics such as length and weight of whole gut were analysed. 3. No significant interaction between genotype and housing systems was observed. Significant differences were found for all traits among genotypes. The live weight was higher in H and H x B genotypes from 7 to 15 weeks and from 7 to 21 weeks of age compared to B genotype, respectively. The live weight of H genotype was higher than that of H x B genotype from 15 to 21 weeks of age. The carcass weight and yield, and the relative weights of the edible inner organs and whole gut, and the relative length of whole gut were significantly affected by genotype and sex of birds. Differences in growth performance, relative weight of breast meat, wings or thighs between birds raised on barn or free-range were negligible. In conclusion, while the development in growth performances was related to strain, the traits at slaughter were related to both strain and sex, and were unaffected by housing system.

Growth, Digestive Tract and Muscle Weights in Slow-Growing Broiler is not Affected by a Blend of Branched-Chain Amino Acids Injected into Different Sites of Egg

“…However, the results of the present study are in agreement with previous observations that indicated a mixture of BCAA that did not affect body weight gain, feed intake or feed efficiency in fast-growing broilers (Bhanja and Mandal, 2005). The lack of effects of BCAA blend used in the present study can firstly be explained by the fact that the fastgrowing birds were better able to perform with commercial basal diet due to the fact that nutrient requirements increase depending on growth rate (Sarica et al, 2009;Yamak et al, 2014), and also they may be better able to digest the basal diet due to the development of the digestive tract and organs (Sarica et al, 2009;Baéza et al, 2015). In fact, the effect of BCAA bland was not significant on the dressing percentage, the relative weights of the whole GIT, pancreas and edible inner organs, including gizzard at slaughter age (data not shown).…”

Influence of Meat Type, Sex and Storage Time on Fatty Acid Profile of Free Range Dalmatian Turkey

“…It is well known that fast-growing birds are mainly used in commercial turkey production, while slow growing birds are selected by farmers for organic and free range production (16,17). Hence, the final weights of turkeys in this study were significantly lower than the weight of commercial turkey hybrids.…”

Evaluation of meat quality from 3 turkey genotypes reared with or without outdoor access

“…Organic livestock production is now a rapidly growing industry because of increased consumer interest in organic and natural poultry products (Fanatico et al, 2005a;Sarica et al, 2009). The use of slow-growing genotypes in organic poultry production programs in Europe and the United States is recommended, and in France, the quality brand Label Rouge is a good example of the success of free-range poultry for the gourmet market that also requires slow-growing genotypes (Fanatico et al, 2005b;Sarica et al, 2009).…”