Evaluation of carcass quality in village chickens

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate carcass quality of two commonly reared types of village chickens in Zambia, namely Guinea Fowl Spotted (GFS) and Naked Neck (NN). Ten breast muscles from each village chicken type were excised after slaughter as per established standards. The left halves were used for determination of shear force while the right halves were used for determination of pH and colour. The results showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in all the parameters measured between the two types of village chickens. The breast muscle pH of the GFS and N N chickens was 5.62 and 5.70, respectively. These values were within the normal ranges as the birds were slaughtered under similar and controlled conditions and therefore their post-mortem glycolysis was controlled. In terms of colour, the GFS recorded the L * value of 54.24 while N N recorded a value of 52.52. Similarly, no differences were found because of the improved water holding capacity (WHC) of the muscles which influences colour of the meat by affecting the reflectance properties of the muscles. The N N recorded a shear force value of 1.81 kg while the GFS recorded a value of 1.83 kg thereby showing the same level of tenderness. It is concluded that carcass quality o f the two strains is the same.