Abstract

GALLARD, Eliana; MENICHELLI, Marcela; DI MASSO, Ricardo  and  REVIDATTI, Fernando. Multivariate Characterization of Slaughter in Broilers Raised Under Different Stocking Densities. Cienc. Tecnol. Agropecuaria [online]. 2023, vol.24, n.3, e3004.  Epub Aug 31, 2023. ISSN 0122-8706.  https://doi.org/10.21930/rcta.vol24_num3_art:3004.

In intensive poultry production, the management of stocking density to greater profitability collides, on occasions, with the welfare of birds. The aim was to characterize, by means of a multivariate approach, sources of variance for productive traits at slaughter in male and female broiler chickens, under two stocking densities. Day-old Cobb chickens were housed in mixed flocks in darkened houses under two densities: standard (14 chickens/m2 = 29,000 birds) and reduced (12 chickens/m2 = 25,000 birds). At 41 days of age, a random sample of 30 birds of each sex and density was slaughtered. Evaluated traits were: Clean weight (pl), carcass yield (rc), leg-thigh yield (rpm), breast yield (rp), and fat proportion (pg). Data were analyzed using the multivariate technique of principal components. The first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) explained 79% of the total variance of the data in males and 81% in females. CP1 was mainly associated with clean weight and carcass yield and CP2 with breast and leg-thigh yield and abdominal fat ratio. With higher density, higher carcass yield was observed, due, in part, to the higher proportion of abdominal fat, as these birds grew at a lower final weight, due to differences in energy balance. This allows including carcass quality analysis as a useful indicator to adapt the density to the market requirements, meanwhile, although its increase is expressed through greater performance, it also implies a higher body fat content.

Keywords : Environmental conditions; growth rate; industrial production; poultry; yield.

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