Improvement of broiler meat quality and quantity by prolonging rearing period with cost effective dietary regime

Mymensingh

Consumers’ preferences drastically shift from commercial broiler meats to local or crossbreed Sonali chickens due to several speculations like incomplete myogenesis, less tough and flavored meat, and insipid taste. Moreover, propaganda with respect to antibiotics and steroids uses in broilers feed is now a growing concern. Therefore, it is of importance to introduce tough broiler meat to hold valued customers. Initially, a survey through constructed questionnaire to identify the consumer classes, reasons of their choice, and others associated to overweight broilers. There is a huge demand for broilers with an average body weights of 1.25 to 1.35 kg, 1.5 to 1.7 kg and over 2.0 kg to respective participents. Accordingly, we have started series of experiments with the above ranges of body weights of broilers with a view to calculate firstly the cost-benefit ratio amd secondly the overall nutritive and eating quality profiling of those slaughrtered broilers.

First, a questionnaire-based survey has been conducted with general consumer, restaurant owner, ready-to-eat meat processors to identify which body weights of live broilers they usually buy and reasons of their preferences. Conduct series of on-farm broiler experiments to sort out real cost-benefit ratio as well as quality characteristics of such category of broilers (we have taken 1300-1400 g, 1500-1700g, 1700-1800g and 2000 g above weights of birds and each experiment repeat six times to check the reproducibility of the data where each weight group contains 150 birds).

There is a huge demand for broilers whose weights are within 1300-1400 g and 2000 g above. First categories is mainly used for grill and tandoori purposes and the others are for product development as well as general consumers. Both weight groups provide better economic returns for the farmers.

There is an increased trend of two slaughter ages of broilers to the consumers. Because they have high conversion efficiency of feed to muscle and also return cash to a greater extent to the farmers. Interestingly, intermediate groups have more protein and others proximate nutrients than their counterpart. The present findings suggest that broilers could be reared either 25 days or 35 days above to get maximum economic returns.

Farmers face financial loss due to price seasonal variability, mortality and reduced flock uniformity. There is no information about cost benefit ratio and meat quality characteristics for the birds weigh about 1300-1400 g and 2000 g above. The findings create mass awareness to the farmers as well as consumers and improve the market chain.

A broiler house equipped with all facilities has been built using the fund from this project. So, more research has been carried out by achieving fund from donors.