Age-related changes in the distribution of lean fat with skin and bones in goose carcasses

The experimental materials comprised White Italian geese (128 males and 128 females) reared to 14 wk of age. The birds were fed standard diets ad libitum. Starting from 2 wk of age, 14 males and 14 females were killed at 2-wk intervals. The carcasses were divided into neck, wings, legs, breast, and back, which were then dissected into muscle, skin with fat, and bones. Before slaughter, the BW of males and females were 6,814 and 5,736 g, respectively. At 2 wk of age, more than half of total muscle content was in the legs (60.98%), and the rest was in the back (17.84%), neck (9.43%), breast (8.78%), and wings (2.97%). To 10 wk of age, the rate of muscle deposition was relatively slow in the legs (a decrease to 31.29%) and fast in the breast and wings (an increase to 34.12 and 12.90%, respectively). Age-related changes in the distribution of skin with fat in the carcass were smaller, compared with changes in muscle distribution. A rising tendency was observed in the muscle content of wings and breast and in the content of skin with fat in the wings and neck, whereas a falling tendency was observed in the other carcass parts. Over the first 8 wk, the proportion of bones decreased in the legs, back, and neck and increased in the wings and breast, as compared with the total bone weight in the carcass.