Productive performances and carcase quality of male and female Italian Padovana and Polverara slow-growing chicken breeds

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of the diets.

	Diets
Analysed composition, g/kg (as-fed)^a^,b	Period 1 (0–28 d)	Period 2 (29–71 d)	Period 3 (72–183 d)
Dry matter (DM)	898	882	906
Ash	49.7	74.4	60.5
Organic matter (OM)^c	849	807	845
Crude protein (CP)	196	194	174
Ether extract (EE)	37.3	18.4	30.9
Crude fibre (CF)	27.4	14.9	29.5
NDF	117	113	119
Starch	367	365	393
Non-nitrogenous extracts^d	588	580	610
NNCC^e	536	500	552
Ca	10.5	10.8	10.3
P	8.00	7.80	7.20
Ca/P	13.1	13.8	14.3
Na	1.30	1.30	1.60
Gross energy (GE), kcal/kg^f	4013	3726	3917

a Supplied (per kilogram of diet): E672 Vitamin A, 11,000 U; E671 Vitamin D3: 3000 U (diets 1,2), 4500 U (diet 3); 3a700 Vitamin E (rac-alfa – tocopheryl acetate): 100 mg (diet 1), 90 mg (diet 2), 80.0 mg (diet 3); Vitamin K, 4.00 mg; Vitamin B1, 2.50 mg; Vitamin B2, 10.0 mg; Vitamin B6, 1.00 mg; Vitamin B12, 0.025 mg; pantothenic acid: 15.0 mg (diet 1); 3a842 D-panthenol: 15.0 mg (diets 2, 3); biotin, 0.20 mg; folic acid, 0.50 mg; nicotinic acid, 20.0 mg.

b Supplied (per kilogram of diet): Fe, 62.1 mg (diets 1, 2), 319 mg (diet 3) as E1 ferrous carbonate (diets 1, 2 and 3) and ferric oxide (diet 3); I, 1.31 mg as E2 potassium iodide; Cu, 9.83 mg as E4 cupric sulphate pentahydrate; Mn, 193.5 mg as E5 manganese oxide; Zn, 74.4 mg as E6 zinc oxide.

c Organic matter content = DM – Ash.

d Non-nitrogenous extracts content =100 – (Ash + CP + EE + CF).

e NNCC: non-nitrogenous cellular content = OM – (CP + NDF).

f Estimated according to Janssen (1989).

Table 2. Live weight and average daily gain of Padovana (PAD) and Polverara (POL) chickens from hatching until slaughter (0–183 d of age).

	Breed (B)		Gender (G)		SE	p Value
Item	PAD	POL	M	F		B	G	B × G
Number of birds	67	70	76	61
Live weight (LW), g
0 d	33.8	33.7	33.8	33.7	0.4	.8597	.9071	.7463
28 d	248	240	255^A	233^B	4	.1756	.0007	.3283
71 d	786	809	871^A	724^B	18	.3679	<.0001	.0682
183 d	2114	2070	2437^A	1747^B	22	.1671	<.0001	.2872
Average daily gain (ADG), g/d
Period 1 (0–28 d)	7.65	7.35	7.88^A	7.12^B	0.15	.1724	.0005	.3027
Period 2 (29–71 d)	12.8	13.6	14.7^A	11.7^B	0.4	.1737	<.0001	.0759
Period 3 (72–183 d)	12.0^a	11.4^b	14.1^A	9.22^B	0.19	.0293	<.0001	.0086
Overall period (0–183 d)	11.4	11.1	13.1^A	9.36^B	0.12	.1661	<.0001	.2877

a,b Means within the same row followed by different lowercase superscript letters differ p ≤ .05.

A,B Means within the same row followed by different uppercase superscript letters differ p ≤ .01; p ≤ .001; p ≤ .0001.

Table 3. Mortality rate of Padovana (PAD) and Polverara (POL) breeds.

	Breed		p Value
Mortality, %	PAD	POL
0–28 d	3.7	0.0	.118
29–71 d	12.8	5.3	.124
72–183 d	0.0	1.4	.131
0–183 d	16.5	6.7	.060

Table 4. Slaughter yields of Padovana (PAD) and Polverara (POL) breeds.

	Breed (B)		Gender (G)		SE	p Value
	PAD	POL	M	F		B	G	B × G
Number of birds	59	60	67	52
Slaughter weight (SW), g	2111	2061	2425^A	1747^B	25	.1542	<.0001	.2119
Commercial carcase weight (CCW), g^1	1729	1711	2008^A	1432^B	22	.5703	<.0001	.6502
Commercial carcase yield, % SW	81.8^B	82.9^A	82.8^a	81.9^b	0.2	.0025	.0124	.0075
Organs incidences, % CCW
Gizzard	2.51	2.50	2.32^B	2.69^A	0.05	.9024	<.0001	.0564
Liver	1.76	1.67	1.66	1.76	0.04	.1157	.0772	.0066
Heart	0.57	0.56	0.62^A	0.51^B	0.01	.3839	<.0001	.5731
Neck + head	8.87^a	8.46^b	9.14^A	8.19^B	0.13	.0333	<.0001	.5866
Wings	7.20	7.32	7.33	7.19	0.01	.3804	.3080	.5558
Shanks	3.82^B	4.45^A	4.46^A	3.81^B	0.06	<.0001	<.0001	.0584
Net carcase weight (NCW), g^2	1236	1220	1431^A	1026^B	18	.5271	<.0001	.7073
Net carcase yield, % SW	58.5	59.1	59.0	58.7	0.3	.1135	.4342	.0454
Whole breast weight, g	227	236	255^A	208^B	5	.2410	<.0001	.0442
Breast yield, % SW	10.9^b	11.5^a	10.5^B	11.9^A	0.2	.0253	<.0001	.0011
Breast yield, % CCW	13.3	13.9	12.7^B	14.5^A	0.2	.0719	<.0001	.0033
Legs weight, g	439	442	533^A	348^B	6	.7596	<.0001	.2286
Legs yield, % SW	20.7^b	21.3^a	22.0^A	20.0^B	0.2	.0155	<.0001	<.0001
Legs yield, % CCW	25.3	25.6	26.6^A	24.4^B	0.2	.2029	<.0001	.0030
Leg meat/bones ratio^3	6.07	5.93	5.82	6.19	0.21	.6366	.2133	.5090
Leg skin incidence, % leg weight^3	11.1	11.2	10.2^B	12.2^A	0.2	.7254	<.0001	.1495
Femur weight, g^3	13.1	13.9	16.5^A	10.5^B	0.4	.119	<.0001	.4517
Femur length, mm^3	93.3^a	90.4^b	96.7^A	87.0^B	0.9	.0176	<.0001	.1966
Femur incidence, % leg weight^3	6.15	6.21	6.30	6.06	0.20	.8329	.3994	.7180
Femur diameter, mm^3	8.04^b	8.37^a	8.61^A	7.80^B	0.10	.0140	<.0001	.9246
Femur WBFT, N^3^,4	373^b	404^a	459^A	317^B	11	.0493	<.0001	.0456

a,b Means within the same row followed by different lowercase superscript letters differ p ≤ .05.

A,B Means within the same row followed by different uppercase superscript letters differ p ≤ .01; p ≤ .001; p ≤ .0001.

1 Commercial carcase: slaughtered bird after removal of blood, feathers and viscera, with stomach, gizzard, liver, heart, and head, neck and shanks attached.

2 Net carcase: commercial carcase after removal of stomach, gizzard, liver, heart, head, neck and shanks.

3 Determined on the left legs.

4 Warner–Bratzler Fracture Toughness.

Figure 1. Effect of B × G interaction on slaughter yields, referred to (a) commercial carcase yield; (b) breast yield; (c) legs yield.

Figure 2. Effect of B × G interaction on (a) Pectoralis major muscle pH; (b) Iliotibialis lateralis muscle pH.

Figure 3. Effect of B × G interaction on Pectoralis major muscle (a) lightness index (L*); (b) yellowness index (b*).

Table 5. Pectoralis major muscle pH and L*a*b* colour values of Padovana (PAD) and Polverara (POL) breeds, measured at 48-h post mortem.

	Breed (B)		Gender (G)		SE	p Value
	PAD	POL	M	F		B	G	B × G
Number of samples	59	60	67	52
pH	5.87	5.87	5.90^A	5.84^B	0.01	.9385	.0001	<.0001
L* (lightness)	50.0^A	48.9^B	48.5^B	50.4^A	0.3	.0040	<.0001	.0087
a* (redness)	−1.41	−1.03	−1.25	−1.20	0.14	.0520	.8004	.0915
b* (yellowness)	6.73	6.90	5.51^B	8.13^A	0.23	.5935	<.0001	<.0001

A,B Means within the same row followed by different uppercase superscript letters differ p ≤ .01; p ≤ .001; p ≤ .0001.

Table 6. Iliotibialis lateralis muscle pH and L*a*b* colour values of Padovana (PAD) and Polverara (POL) breeds, measured at 48-h post mortem.

	Breed (B)		Gender (G)		SE	p Value
	PAD	POL	M	F		B	G	B × G
Number of samples	59	60	67	52
pH	6.20^A	6.11^B	6.11^B	6.19^A	0.01	<.0001	.0001	<.0001
L* (lightness)	49.4^A	47.9^B	47.7^B	49.6^A	0.3	.0002	<.0001	<.0001
a* (redness)	−0.01^B	1.92^A	2.27^A	−0.36^B	0.20	<.0001	<.0001	.0320
b* (yellowness)	4.30	3.75	3.10^B	4.96^A	0.20	.0564	<.0001	.0010

A,B Means within the same row followed by different uppercase superscript letters differ p ≤ .01; p ≤ .001; p ≤ .0001.

Figure 4. Effect of B × G interaction on Iliotibialis lateralis muscle (a) lightness index (L*); (b) redness index (a*); (c) yellowness index (b*).

Janssen WMMA. 1989. European table of energy values for poultry feedstuffs. Working Group No. 2 of the European Branch World’s Poult. Sci. Assoc. 3rd ed. Beekbergen (The Netherlands).

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