Relationship among Sex, Skin Color, and Production Parameters of Broiler in Pectoral Myopathies

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Genetic selection in poultry production aims to obtain more efficient and fast-growing broilers. Breast is an economically interesting poultry cut; thus, its increased development, known as hypertrophy, is a selection criterion that has been adopted by breeders. However, genetic drift is increasing breast myopathies, alterations in the normal arrangement of the muscle fibers that compose the muscle, among broilers. The altered breast meat is fit for human consumption, and it does not represent a public health issue; nevertheless, it causes important commercial losses. Among all of the possible factors that may contribute to breast myopathies, the relationship between sex, skin color, live weight, conversion rate, and feed particle size and two types of alterations (wooden breast and spaghetti meat) was evaluated. It was found that such factors significantly affected the appearance of these myopathies in most cases, influencing muscle alterations in different and even opposite ways. Although the incidence of myopathies in the breast was low in the broilers studied, it is necessary to adapt the production conditions to offer a product of the highest quality. ABSTRACT: Breast anomalies in broilers, especially wooden breast (WB) and spaghetti meat (SM), cause high economic losses to the poultry meat sector. In order to identify the parameters that have a causal effect and to reduce the incidence of these myopathies, 141,792 broilers were analyzed in a total of 1477 batches using a visual grading system. The relationship among productive parameters such as the feed conversion ratio, live weight, growth rate, and mortality, was evaluated. Effects due to skin color (white vs. yellow), broiler sex (male, female, and mixed groups), feed presentation (grain vs. mash), and veterinary treatments (treated vs. untreated) were also included in the statistical study. Live weight was observed to have a significant effect (p < 0.001) on WB incidence, which increased by 1.11 for each 100 g of weight. Weight did not significantly affect the incidence of SM. Males had a higher incidence of WB and a lower incidence of SM than females. The incidence of both myopathies varied between samples that turned out to be significantly affected by some of the variables considered in the model, such as grain feeding and the feed conversion ratio. Controlling these factors in the broiler production could help to reduce the incidence of WB and SM.