Effect of Diets with Different Energy and Protein Levels on Breast Muscle Characteristics of Broiler Chickens (original) (raw)

In this paper was studied the effect of dietary energy and protein levels on breast muscle characteristics of broiler chickens, which were sacrificed at 42 days old. The genetic material was represented by broiler chickens that belonged to the "Ross-308" hybrid, with three groups (L C -control group, L 1 and L 2 experimental groups). During the growth periods (starter, growing and finishing) they have received compound feed ad libitum, with different energy and protein levels (L C -conforming to recommendations of Aviagen Company; L 1 -higher with 10%; L 2 -lower with 10%). After evisceration, from each group were sampled breasts from 10 carcasses (five per sex) and were determined: muscle mass, meat: bones ratio, chemical composition of meat, pH value (after evisceration up to 24 h of refrigeration) and the thickness of myocytes in the superficial pectoral muscle. For these characteristics, the highest values were obtained in the L 1 group, and the lowest values in the L ...