Differences in carcass composition of males and females of two turkeys hybrids

Abstract

DOI: 10.15414/afz.2014.17.03.72–74

Received 7. May 2014 ǀ Accepted 27. May 2014 ǀ Available online 27. August 2014

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of hybrid and sex on carcass composition in turkeys. A total of 240 turkeys (males and females) of two different hybrids (BUT Big 6 and Converter) were used in experiment. Birds were housed in housing conditions suitable for turkeys. Turkeys were fed ad libitum with commercial feed mixture for given category of turkeys. Six males and six females of each genotype were slaughtered at 17^th weeks of age. Live weight and carcass composition were determined. The significant interactions between hybrid and sex were detected in live weight (P≤0.001), carcass weight (P≤0.001) and liver percentage (P≤0.006). The highest live weight and carcass weight was observed in Converter males (17410 g, 13360 g, respectively), while the lowest was detected in Converter females (12115 g, 9390 g, respectively). Converter females had the highest liver share (1.47%), whereas the lowest liver share was noted in BUT Big 6 females (1.20%). The significant effect of hybrid was found in live weight, carcass weight and thigh percentage.  The significantly higher live weight (P≤0.003), carcass weight (P≤0.002) and share of thigh (P≤0.010) was detected in BUT Big 6 compare to Converter. Males had significantly higher (P≤0.001) live weight, carcass weight and share of thigh than females.

Keywords: turkeys, hybrids, sex, carcass traits