Occurrence of Breast Meat Abnormalities and Foot Pad Dermatitis in Light-Size Broiler Chicken Hybrids.

Abstract

Simple SummaryLimiting the occurrence of breast meat abnormalities and foot pad dermatitis is of vital importance for the overall sustainability of the poultry industry. Although previous findings have revealed that the genotype of the birds could influence the prevalence of both these conditions, only limited information regarding these aspects in current fast-growing broiler genotypes is available. Therefore, this trial was conducted to estimate the incidence and severity of breast myopathies and foot pad dermatitis in two fast-growing chicken hybrids, while simultaneously recording their growth performance. The results obtained in this study showed that the two genotypes, hatched and raised in the same environmental conditions and fed the same commercial diet, showed significantly different occurrence of breast meat abnormalities and foot pad dermatitis, while presenting comparable growth performance at slaughter. This research provides important information that can be useful for both the poultry industry and the scientific community in order to consider the importance of the chicken genotype on crucial meat quality issue and animal welfare aspects such as emerging breast meat abnormalities and foot pad dermatitis, respectively.Only limited information regarding the occurrence of breast meat abnormalities and foot pad dermatitis (FPD) in current broiler genotypes is available. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the incidence and severity of breast myopathies (white striping, WS; wooden breast, WB; spaghetti meat, SM) and FPD in two fast-growing chicken hybrids, while simultaneously recording their growth performance. A total of 1560 one-day-old female chicks (780 for each hybrid, A and B; 12 replicates/genotype) were raised in the same environmental conditions and fed the same diet. Productive parameters were recorded at the end of each feeding phase. At slaughter (35 d), the occurrence of meat abnormalities and FPD was assessed on 150 breasts/genotype and on all of the processed birds, respectively. Although comparable growth performance was observed at slaughter, genotype B reported a significantly higher percentage of breasts without meat abnormalities (69% vs. 39%, 75% vs. 41%, 61% vs. 37% for WS, WB and SM, respectively) and also birds without FPD, than genotype A (53% vs. 23%, respectively). Overall, these findings highlight the importance of better understanding the effects of the genotype and the artificial selection applied to fast-growing chicken hybrids on the occurrence of emerging meat abnormalities and FPD even in light-size birds.