Reduce Woody Breast and White Striping in Poultry Meat with Dietary Approach
Sir, what is the actual region for this problem?
Elizabeth Davis thank you very much for the information.
Nice explanation. Thanks.
Emda, please see this response from Dr. Vivek Kuttappan:
Thanks for your comments. Sorry, I am not sure if have any specific question/s, but the following are my comments on the topics you discussed.
Breast muscle in birds is mainly meant for the movement of wings while flying. In the case of broiler birds, this muscle is not used much (as they do not fly) and are mainly consist of glycolytic (anaerobic) muscle fibers.
Calcium ions play an important role in muscle contraction. As a result of a signal for muscle contraction, calcium ions will be released which binds to troponin protein complex in muscle exposing the myosin-binding sites in actin. Binding of actin and myosin along with the utilization of ATP results in the active contraction of the muscle. In fact, higher muscle levels of calcium have been associated with severe myopathies (wooden breast), as reported by some studies, which could be related to the myopathic degenerative changes.
Hope it’s helpful.
The deep pectoral myopathy can be induced by vigorous wing flapping in both broilers and turkey which results in breast muscles contracting and the deep pectoral muscles filled with blood and due to the inelastic sheath around the muscle the pressure within the muscles increases which reduces blood flow in and out of the muscle. This can then result in muscle cell death in deep pectoral muscles. Vigorous flapping must occur sometimes prior to slaughter to result in wooden breast. Wing flapping and struggling during shackling in the processing plant has been shown at death to affect muscle glycogen and lactic acid content at death which increases the risk of PSE myopathy. To date, there is no evidence that wooden breast can be induced by excessive bird activity, but it should be considered good management practice to reduce excessive wing-flapping activity in broilers at all times. Ensuring birds are used to human activity within the house and always handled in a calm and careful way reduces risk of vigorous wing flapping and potential damage to breast muscle.
Reduce fear in broiler's production is the key point!
Assalam o Alaikum
(All of you be blessed with peace ).
I think deep pectoral myopathy is not a very common problem. However white striping is a major problem faced by broiler processing units.
No doubt it is the major problem in breeds with high breast yield.
But I have noticed that these stripes are fats in nature and their prevalence is more in the birds over 2 kg live weight.
So breed selection (with low prevalence), administration of fat metabolism enhancers in feed or drinking water and marketing the birds
before 2Kg live weight can remarkably reduce the chances of white striping in broilers.
The Impact of Dietary Electrolyte Balance on Male Broiler Performance Offered Reduced Crude Protein Diets
