Search

Simple Summary: Various kinds of yellow-feathered chickens are crossbred from Chinese local native chicken breeds and introduced broilers. The individual parts of yellow-feathered chickens are less suitable for sale after slaughtering than those of broilers, and they have mainly been sold as live whole chickens. With the establishment of cold chain logistics for chicken in China, chilled-type and processed yellow-feathered chicken products have appeared in the market. Xueshan chicken, a yellow-feathered chicken breed, which has high meat quality and good taste, is bred to meet the diversified needs of the market by Jiangsu Lihua Breeding Company. The present study used Xueshan chicken as an experimental model to determine the effect of sex on the slaughtering performance and meat quality. This study provides valuable breeding references for poultry producers by determining the basic production phenotypes of yellow-feathered chickens. The demand for high-quality chilled chicken has continued to increase in China. Chickens are sexually dimorphic, and to better understand the specific differences in chicken production based on sex, we examined how sex affects growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality of yellow-feathered chickens. Male and female Xueshan chickens were used as the experimental model. Although males exhibited better growth performance, including body weight (BW), body slope, keel, shank length, and shank girth (p < 0.05), as well as carcass traits, such as dressed weight, leg muscle, and lean meat, females had higher carcass and breast muscle yields (p < 0.05). Males had higher follicle density and yellowness (b*) of the skin and better skin than females (p < 0.05). Among blood biochemical parameters, the serum content of corticosterone (CORT) was higher in males, while those of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and catalase (CAT) were lower in males than in females (p < 0.05). The pH levels, shear force, and moisture content quality were better in male breast meat, while the intramuscular fat content (IMF) was lower in males than in females (p < 0.05). The redness (a*) and moisture content were higher in male leg meat, while the pH, water-loss rate (WLR), lightness (L*), and IMF were lower (p < 0.05). The muscle fiber diameter and cross-sectional area were also higher in males (p < 0.05). Consumers felt that soup of male chicken was better than female (p < 0.05), while mouthfeel and tenderness acceptance of breast meat were different between the sexes. These results indicate that female chickens can be marketed as a whole carcass, while males are more suitable for processed carcass products. This study provides significant insights into the production and processing methodologies of yellow-feathered chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Lindian chickens are a local chicken variety in northern China. To explore the growth and development characteristics of Lindian chickens, various statistical methods were used to analyze their body size and carcass traits. The results showed that multiple trait measurements of Lindian chickens rapidly increased before 10 weeks of age, while after 19 weeks of age they mainly developed reproductive organs and muscles. In addition, we also found that body size traits were closely related to carcass traits, providing a foundation for the breeding and management of Lindian chickens. As an excellent chicken breed found in a high-altitude zone of northern China, Lindian chickens are characterized by good egg and meat production, strong adaptability, cold tolerance, rough feeding resistance, excellent egg quality, and delicious meat quality. To facilitate the exploitation of the unique qualities of the Lindian chicken, the varying patterns and correlations of various body size and carcass traits of 3–22-week-old Lindian chickens were analyzed in this study. The optimal growth model of these traits was determined by growth curve fitting analysis. The results showed that most traits of Lindian chickens increased steadily with increasing age, and most of them increased rapidly before 10 weeks of age. In addition, the inflection point age of each trait was predicted to be between 4 and 10 weeks. Furthermore, this study revealed that body size traits were closely related to carcass traits in Lindian chickens. In summary, Lindian chickens are in a rapid growth stage before the age of 10 weeks, and better slaughter performance can be achieved through good feeding management during this stage. The reproductive traits and muscles are the main developmental focus after the age of 19 weeks, so it is important to adequately meet their energy requirements for subsequent good breeding performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In China, although preslaughter stunning is commonly performed in large-scale production systems, this practice is less common in smaller-scale systems. To promote the concept of animal welfare, we selected common local chicken breeds and sampled the meat and blood of chickens with and without stunning. The experimental results verified that stunning before slaughter can improve meat quality, increase flavor and reduce the stress on chickens. It is more respectful of animal welfare and provides a theoretical basis for the promotion of animal welfare concepts in China. Electrical stunning is widely utilized prior to a neck cut to induce unconsciousness in order to improve animal welfare and slaughter efficiency in the broiler production industry. However, slaughter without stunning is still very commonly used in China, in part because there is a belief that stunning reduces meat quality. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the physical (hemorrhages, pH, drip loss, and shear force) and chemical (inosinic monophosphate concentration and reducing sugar content) properties of broiler meat differed between chickens in preslaughter stunning and nonstunned slaughter groups, and whether the groups differed in their levels of cortisol as an indicator of stress. Serum cortisol levels of the nonstunned group were nearly twice as high as those in the stunned group (p < 0.05). Several meat quality indicators were better in the stunned group than in the nonstunned group. We concluded that electrical stunning prior to slaughter significantly decreases the stress caused by slaughter, resulting in both improved animal welfare and meat quality traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]