Physical quality of KUB chicken carcass supplemented with turmeric

Abstract

Public interest in kampung chicken (Ayam Kampung) must be balanced with the carcass’s quality. Providing healthy and antibiotic-free Ayam Kampung carcasses is a challenge for farmers. As a natural additive, turmeric could promote chicken growth performances. This research aimed to evaluate the effects of turmeric supplementation on the physical quality of KUB chicken carcasses. The study was conducted at the AIAT Bengkulu Postharvest Laboratory Unit from January to December 2021. About 20 KUB chickens (75 days old) were involved in this experiment. There were five treatments in this study, specifically: (1) without turmeric supplementation as control, (2) 2.5% turmeric supplementation, (3) 5% turmeric supplementation, (4) 7.5% turmeric supplementation, and (5) 10% turmeric supplementation. Each treatment was replicated four times. The observation of carcass quality included live weight, carcass weight, total carcass percentage, carcass part percentage (thighs, chest, and wings), heart weight, and abdominal fat percentage. The result showed that turmeric supplementation significantly reduced the abdominal fat of KUB chickens. However, the supplementation treatments did not influence KUB chicken’s carcass yield.