Effects of different raising systems on growth performance, carcass, and meat quality of medium-growing chickens

Figures & data

Table 1. Nutrient and energy content of the feeds.

Item	1d to 28d	29d to slaughter
Metabolizable energy (MJ/kg)	12.12	12.96
Crude protein (%)	21.98	20.19
Crude fat (%)	3.19	6.19
Calcium (%)	1.00	0.93
Available phosphorus (%)	0.60	0.57

Table 2. Effect of three different raising systems on growth performance.

Raising system	Final weight (g)	Feed intake (g/d)	BW gain (g/d)	Feed/gain ratio (g/g)	Mortality (%)
P-value	4.03 × 10^−7	8.12 × 10^−3	1.69 × 10^−3	0.037	/
Free-range	2089.47 ± 36.46^b	98.67 ± 1.32^b	30.5 ± 1.03^b	3.24 ± 0.20^a	0.8
Cage	2142.00 ± 40.15^b	111.45 ± 0.98^a	36.3 ± 1.24^a	3.07 ± 0.22^b	0.8
Indoor-floor	2434.87 ± 43.91^a	104.91 ± 0.86^b	33.2 ± 0.30^ab	3.16 ± 0.04^a	1.6

Note: Within-column means bearing different superscripts (a,b) differ significantly (P < .05).

Table 3. Effect of three different raising systems on carcass yield.

Raising system	Eviscerated carcass (%)	Abdominal fat (%)	Breast muscle (%)	Leg muscle (%)
Free-range	68.47 ± 1.13^ab	5.26 ± 0.62^b	17.98 ± 1.26^ab	19.76 ± 1.61^b
Cage	67.78 ± 1.79^b	7.18 ± 0.98^a	17.05 ± 1.70^b	20.32 ± 1.37^a
Indoor-floor	69.08 ± 1.49^a	7.56 ± 0.69^a	18.89 ± 1.85^a	19.17 ± 1.27^b

Note: Within-column means bearing different superscripts (a,b) differ significantly (P < .05).

Table 4. Effect of three different raising systems on meat quality.

Raising system	pH	WHC (%)	Shear force (kg)	IMF (%)	IMP (mg/g)
Free-range	5.90 ± 0.07^a	78.16 ± 1.62^a	3.55 ± 0.32^bc	2.92 ± 0.26^a	3.56 ± 0.16^a
Cage	5.79 ± 0.08^a	75.35 ± 1.74^a	2.73 ± 0.35^c	3.02 ± 0.27^a	3.64 ± 0.17^a
Indoor-floor	5.84 ± 0.07^a	77.72 ± 1.61^a	4.26 ± 0.32^ab	2.76 ± 0.26^a	3.55 ± 0.16^a

Note: Within-column means bearing different superscripts (a,b) differ significantly (P < .05).