Prediction of meatiness and fatness in ducks by using a skin slice with subcutaneous fat and carcass weight without skin.
The experiment was performed on Pekin ducks (A-44 strain; 60 males and 60 females). The birds were reared to 7 wk of age and fed standard diets ad libitum. At the completion of the rearing period, the ducks were killed. The carcasses were chilled, and skin slices with s.c. fat were removed by a new method. The remaining part of the carcass was dissected into meat, intermuscular fat, and bones. The statistical analysis showed that the weight of a skin slice with s.c. fat, taken from the carcass surface excluding the forearms and wing tips [skin slice with fat (X(2))], and the weight of a carcass without this slice, forearms, and wing tips (X(1)) were very good indicators of the content of skin with fat (r = 0.99) and meat (r = 0.96), respectively, in a whole carcass. The above traits provided the basis for deriving regression equations to estimate the content of meat (Y) or skin with s.c. and intermuscular fat (U) in whole carcasses of ducks. The following 2 equations may be recommended for practical application: Y = 0.691 X(1) - 0.77 (S(y) = 21.6 g) U = 1.056 X(2) + 53.32 (S(u) = 10.6 g).
Bochno
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R
Department of Commodity Science and Animal Improvement, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-718 Olsztyn, Poland.
Brzozowski
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W
Murawska
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D
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D004372:Ducks / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D012867:Skin