Featherless and feathered broilers under control versus hot conditions. 1. Breast meat yield and quality

The improved genetic potential of contemporary commercial broilers cannot be fully expressed under hot conditions that depress growth rate, decrease breast meat yield, and reduce meat quality. The negative heat effects are attributed to the insulating feather coverage, which, under high ambient temperatures (AT), hinders dissipation of the excessive internally produced heat. Accordingly, featherless broilers (sc/sc), their feathered sibs (+/sc), and contemporary broilers (+/+) were subjected to control AT (26°C) and hot AT (32°C) to test the hypothesis that lack of feathers contributes to higher breast muscle yield and better meat quality, especially under hot conditions, and that differences related to lack of feathers are related to cardiovascular capacity. In 2 similar trials, the superior genetic background of the contemporary broilers was manifested under control conditions; their mean BW was about 15% higher than the means of the featherless broilers and their feathered sibs. The hot conditions depressed BW of the 2 feathered groups by approximately 25%, with hardly any effect on featherless broiler BW. Breast meat yield (% of BW) in the featherless broilers was higher than in those with feathers, especially under the hot AT. Furthermore, the featherless broilers were characterized by superior meat quality as indicated by lower drip loss, lower lightness, and higher redness. The superior meat quality of the featherless broilers could be explained by their larger hearts and higher hematocrit values, suggesting superior cardiovascular capacity to supply oxygen and nutrients to the breast muscles. On the practical side, the results clearly indicate that modern featherless broilers can reach normal BW, as well as yield and quality of breast meat, under hot conditions as well. It appears that broiler meat production in hot regions and climates can be substantially improved by introducing the featherless gene into contemporary commercial broiler stocks. This has become more feasible since the recent development of a simple DNA test to identify carriers of the recessive sc mutation.