Growth, serum indices, fatty acids, and meat quality of broiler chickens subjected to late feed restriction

Abstract

This study assessed how quantitative feed restriction in the finisher phase affected broiler chickens’ performance, serum metabolites, carcass, fatty acids, meat quality, and oxidative status. Two hundred (200) 21-day-old ad libitum fed Arbor Acres broilers were divided into two groups at random and fed ad libitum (AL-100) or 80% ad libitum (AL-80) for 21 days before slaughter. The qualities of the breast meat were observed during a 5-day postmortem chill storage period. Compared to the AL-80 birds, the AL-100 birds exhibited significantly heavier (p<0.05) slaughter and carcass weights as well as abdominal fat. The AL-80 birds had significantly higher (p<0.05) serum glucose levels. AL-80 birds had significantly decreased (p<0.05) serum levels of very-low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), triglycerides and total cholesterol compared to AL-100 birds. In comparison to AL-100 meat, the concentrations of alpha-linolenic acid [C18:3n-3] and eicosapentaenoic acid [C20:5n-3] were more in AL-80 meat. AL-100 meat had significantly higher (p<0.05) levels of Linoleic acid [C18:2n-6] and total fatty acids than AL-80 meat. On the 3 rd and 5 th days postmortem, AL-80 meat had significantly reduced (p<0.05) carbonyl content, drip loss, and malondialdehyde levels than AL-100 meat. In Arbor Acres broilers, a 20% feed restriction improved the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the breast muscle and decreased the accumulation of abdominal fat and oxidative degradation.