Tenderness is the most important organoleptic characteristic of meat, and various methods have been developed to improve it. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of different conditioning treatments of broiler carcasses on pH, cooking losses, shear values, R-values, and sensory tenderness of breast meat. All measurements were collected for breast muscle as follows: after 24...

The benefits of feeding avilamycin (Surmax/Maxus, Elanco Animal Health) to broiler chickens were demonstrated in a floor pen study (two trials) in which avilamycin was fed at 10 ppm in a 45-day growout. Final live weight of broilers fed avilamycin was significantly (P < or = .01) heavier (90 g) than that of control broilers fed for an equal number of days. Feed conversion was numerically but no...

The objective was to investigate the effect of various doses and durations of ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC) on pig HCW, cutting yields, and meat quality. Late-finishing pigs (approximately 93 kg) were allotted to 12 treatments 35 d before slaughter. Treatments consisted of negative control (NEG; 13.1% CP, 0.64 TID Lys), positive control (POS; 17.8% CP, 0.94 TID Lys), and 2 RAC doses (5 and 7....

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum concentrations of the hormone leptin with growth and carcass traits insix distinct breeds of pigs entered into the 2000 National Barrow Show Sire Progeny Test. Breeds evaluated were Berkshire (n = 131), Chester White (n = 33), Duroc (n = 40), Landrace (n = 23), Poland China (n = 26), and Yorkshire (n = 41). Serum samples...

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic associations of growth traits with carcass and meat traits in Nellore cattle. Data from male and female animals were used for weaning weight (WW; N = 241,416), yearling weight (YW, N = 126,596), weight gain from weaning to yearling (GWY, N = 78,687), and yearling hip height (YHH, N = 90,720), respectively; 877 male animals were used f...

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate models for predicting the carcass composition of lambs. Forty male lambs of two different breeds were included in our analysis. The lambs were slaughtered and their hot carcass weight was obtained. After cooling for 24 hours, the subcutaneous fat thickness was measured between the 12th and 13th rib and the total breast bone tissue thickness was ...

Carcass data from more than 4,400 Southdown x Romney ewe and wether lambs collected over a 16-yr period were analyzed for the effects of sex, rearing status, and growth rate. Ewe lambs grew more slowly than wethers and had .78 kg less carcass weight at the same age. The carcass weight advantage for wethers was nearly all caused by heavier fat-free weight. Based on fat depths, the fat on ewe lam...

ABSRACT The present experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different protein and energy levels on broilers performance under hot climatic conditions. A total of three hundred Ross-308 chicks were selected on basis of uniform starting live bodyweight (45g/chick) proximately. Chicks were randomly divided into three treatments with five groups of 20 chicks per pen. Diets were formulated...

A six-week trial was conducted to study the effect of decreasing dietary crude protein (CP) level on the performance of broilers in hot climatic conditions. Four experimental rations having CP 23 (control group), 22, 21 and 20%, with optimal amino acid balance were prepared. All the four rations were isocaloric having ME 3200 kcal/kg with Energy: Protein (E:P) 139.0, 146.5, 152.4 and 160 in die...

The present work describes the effect of slaughtering age on horse carcass traits and on meat quality. Eighteen male Italian heavy draught horse (IHDH) breed foals were employed in the study. Soon after foaling they were randomly subdivided in 3 groups according to 3 age at slaughtering classes: 6 months old, 11 months old and 18 months old. Live weight, hot carcass weight and dressing percenta...