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| Effect of Treadmill Exercise on the Carcass and Meat Quality Characteristics of Spent Laying Hens |
| ZHOU Yefei, CAI Yao, YUAN Jun |
| School of Food Science, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China |
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Abstract The aim of the study was to explore the effects of treadmill exercise on carcass yield and meat quality in spent laying hens. A total of 360 healthy Hy-Line gray hens at the age of 80 weeks with similar body mass and laying rate were selected and randomly divided into two groups (exercise and control groups) with six replicates in each group and 30 chickens in each replicate. The experiment lasted four weeks (from 82 to 85 weeks of age). Carcass and muscle quality were measured at 83 and 85 weeks of age. The results showed that exercise significantly decreased abdominal fat mass and its ratio to eviscerated carcass at 85 weeks of age (P < 0.05). Breast muscle L* and a* values, drip loss and intramuscular fat content of the exercise group were significantly superior to those of the control group. Although the contents of moisture, crude protein, crude fat and crude ash in breast muscle were not significantly different between the two groups, intramuscular fat content in the exercise group was significantly increased compared with that in the control group (P < 0.05). Therefore, forced exercise by increasing daytime activity level in spent laying hens can improve meat quality and carcass characteristics.
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2021, Vol. 35 
