Carcass Quality of Different Meat - Typed Chickens When Achieve a Common Physiological Body Weight

This experiment was conducted to compare carcass characteristics of native quality chicken white Lueyang (WL), modern commercial broiler strain Arbor Acres breeder (AA) and their respective F cross when 1 achieve a common live body weight. A total of 300 day-old chicks were allotted to three groups and reared under the same conditions until they reached market weight (1800±20 g) respectively, then ten of individual male birds from each group were killed for measuring. There were significant differences in carcass and meat characteristics for breeds at a common market weight. WL had a large age to market weight, lower abdominal fat weight, lower breast meat yield, higher leg meat yield (P<0.05 or P<0.01). moisture and lipids of both breast muscle and thigh muscle were lower for WL than AA (P<0.01), but protein and ash components of both breast muscle and thigh muscle were higher for WL than AA (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Muscle pH was higher for WL than AA (P<0.05). WL had a lower L* value than AA and their F (P<0.05), but a higher 24h 1 a* value and b* value (P<0.01). The F crosses appeared to have characteristics more like AA for carcass 1 and meat characteristics.