Relationship among Sex, Skin Color, and Production Parameters of Broiler in Pectoral Myopathies

Abstract

Breast anomalies in broilers, especially wooden breast (WB) and spaghetti meat (SM), cause high economic losses to the poultry meat sector. In order to identify the parameters that have a causal effect and to reduce the incidence of these myopathies, 141,792 broilers were analyzed in a total of 1477 batches using a visual grading system. The relationship among productive parameters such as the feed conversion ratio, live weight, growth rate, and mortality, was evaluated. Effects due to skin color (white vs. yellow), broiler sex (male, female, and mixed groups), feed presentation (grain vs. mash), and veterinary treatments (treated vs. untreated) were also included in the statistical study. Live weight was observed to have a significant effect (p < 0.001) on WB incidence, which increased by 1.11 for each 100 g of weight. Weight did not significantly affect the incidence of SM. Males had a higher incidence of WB and a lower incidence of SM than females. The incidence of both myopathies varied between samples that turned out to be significantly affected by some of the variables considered in the model, such as grain feeding and the feed conversion ratio. Controlling these factors in the broiler production could help to reduce the incidence of WB and SM.

Dietary supplementation with Chlorella vulgaris in broiler chickens submitted to heat-stress: effects on growth performance and meat quality

“…As for myopathies, in the present trial as in previous ones ( Castilho et al, 2021 ; Bordignon et al, 2022 ), WS occurrence was similar in the 2 sexes, whereas WB occurrence was higher in males compared to female birds and SM showed an opposite trend ( Trocino et al, 2015 ; Bordignon et al, 2022 ; Novoa et al, 2022 ) which remain worth of further investigation at a molecular level to understand why and how the 2 myopathies differently develop in the 2 sexes.…”