Estimates of Body Components in Broiler Chickens from Body Weight and Dry Matter

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The feasibility was investigated of using BW and carcass dry matter (CDM) to predict carcass energy (CE), carcass protein (CP), carcass neutral lipids (CNL), and carcass lipid energy (CLE). Prediction equations based on the “dry-matter-ratio” model were applied to six previously collected data sets containing a total of 575 observations; birds in these data sets ranged from 1 to 43 days of age.For day-old chicks, the mean values, observed and predicted, differed by up to 60%; however, the correlation coefficients always exceeded .60. With the older birds, better agreement was obtained, particularly for CE and CP. The mean values differed by less than 15%; the correlations between observed and predicted values exceeded .78. Nevertheless, the same inferences concerning the dietary effects of the bioavailable lysine:TMEn ratio on carcass composition were obtained from analyses of the actual and predicted values. This finding indicated that the prediction equations may be used to assess accurately the effects of experimental treatments on body composition.