Abstract
To evaluate the effect of a production system and feeding regimen on meat quality attributes of Naked Neck chickens, a total of 150 cockerels at 18 weeks old (1625 ± 70 g) were collected from 10 treatment groups with five replicates of three birds. The factorial arrangement of treatments consisted of two production systems (intensive and free-range) and five nutritional regimens, namely 100% commercial feed; 75% commercial feed plus 25% kitchen waste; 50% commercial feed plus 50% kitchen waste; 25% commercial feed plus 75% kitchen waste; and 100% kitchen waste. Carcass traits, meat quality, and meat organoleptic were found to differ significantly among production systems, feeding regimens, and their interaction. Higher liver weight was observed in birds reared under an intensive system. Higher gizzard weight was noted in birds fed with 100% kitchen waste, whereas lower gizzard weight was observed in birds fed the commercial diet. The meat from cockerels fed with 75% kitchen waste was most yellow, whereas the meat from the birds fed with 100% kitchen waste was least yellow. At two hours after slaughter, pH of the meat was highest in birds fed 50% kitchen waste and lowest in birds fed 100% kitchen waste. The interaction of production system and feeding regimen was significant for overall acceptability score. In conclusion, Naked Neck chickens performed equally well under intensive and free-range systems, irrespective of the level of kitchen waste that they were fed.
Highlights
Food security is a challenge globally because of the increasing human population and decreasing nutritional resources
Poultry meat accounted for 35 per cent (1657 thousand tons) of the meat produced in Pakistan in 2019 - 2020 (ESOP, 2020)
Treatments consisted of two production systems and five nutritional regimens, namely i) 100% commercial feed, ii) 75% commercial feed plus 25% kitchen waste, iii) 50% commercial feed plus kitchen waste, iv) 25% commercial feed plus 75% kitchen waste, and v) 100% kitchen waste
Summary
Food security is a challenge globally because of the increasing human population and decreasing nutritional resources. Backyard chickens are considered slow growing with relatively low carcass weight (Tougan et al, 2013a,b) They can provide a local means to recycle kitchen waste as a replacement for a portion of corn and soy in the diet, resulting in more sustainable and lower cost production of eggs and meat (Georganas et al, 2020; Truong et al, 2019; Zu Ermgassen et al, 2016). The local Naked Neck breed was superior when reared under various systems of feeding and housing (Garces et al, 2001) Keeping this in view, the present experiment was undertaken to explore the carcass traits, meat quality, and sensory attributes of Naked Neck chickens under two production systems and five nutritional regimens
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