Effects of Sex and Age on Meat Quality and Carcass Traits of Noiler Chicken

• A. A. Adeoye

  Department of Animal Production and Health, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology Ondo State Nigeria

  Author

Demand for poultry meat is higher because of its perceived superiority in health aspects when compared to red meat. The meat has comparably low contents of fat and cholesterol. A total of sixty (60) Noiler chicken were used to study the impact of sex and age on carcass traits and chemical composition. Throughout the ages considered, sex had no significant different (p>0.05) on the carcass traits considered except on head weight ( 33.11; 25.15) at age 6 weeks; large intestine (18.37; 13.43) at 8 weeks and dressing percentage (98.80; 97.60) at 10 weeks, with higher estimates recorded for male. Sex had no significant difference (p>0.05) on the chemical composition of the meat across the ages. Generally, there was progression increases in all the carcass traits as the age increased. However, in female, age has statistical difference (p<0.05) in all the carcass traits observed except in breast weight and dressing percentage, while no significant effect was observed in the organs and proximate compositions except in gizzard and moisture with higher values observed at the 10th week ( 27.66) and 6th week (9.01), respectively. In male, age has no significant differences (p<0.05) in all the traits considered. Therefore, this study shows that there is no significant different (p>0.05) between male and female noiler chicken in carcass traits and chemical composition.

1. A. A. Adeoye, Department of Animal Production and Health, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology Ondo State Nigeria

   Department of Animal Production and Health, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology Ondo State Nigeria

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