Meat Quality Characteristics of Slow-Growing Hubbard Red JA57 Broilers in Different Rearing Systems

Abstract

In this study, the slow-growing, mixed-sex Hubbard Red JA57 broiler genotype was examined under two rearing systems: indoor and free-range. The study was carried out over a 12-week period at the Animal Production Research and Practice Center of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University. In both the Indoor Rearing System (IRS) and the Free-Range System (FRS), chicks were raised in floor pens at a density of 3.7 chicks/m². In the FRS group, in addition to the same indoor housing conditions, chicks were allowed to access an alfalfa-planted outdoor area starting from the third week, with a stocking density of 0.9 chicks/m², enabling free movement and grazing. Each treatment consisted of three replicates with 28 chicks per replicate, totaling 84 chicks per treatment and 168 chicks in total. Throughout the trial, all chicks were fed the same feed ad libitum. Meat quality parameters were evaluated in both breast and thigh meat, including crude ash, protein, moisture, water-holding capacity, fat content, color (L, a, b), hue, chroma, ΔE, cholesterol, and fatty acid composition. The differences between rearing systems in crude ash, water-holding capacity, fat content, color values, and cholesterol content in breast and thigh meat were found to be non-significant(p>0.05), whereas significant differences were observed in protein content(p<0.05) and moisture content (p<0.01). Differences in fatty acid composition between rearing systems were significant for some fatty acids and non-significant for others. Interactions between rearing systems and sex, and between rearing systems and meat part, were found to be non-significant for crude ash, protein, moisture, water-holding capacity, fat, color (L, a, b), hue, chroma, ΔE, and cholesterol (p>0.05). The interaction between sex and meat part was found to be significant only for crude ash content(p<0.05), while it remained non-significant for all other traits.