Effects of transport stress on blood metabolism, glycolytic potential, and meat quality in meat-type yellow-feathered chickens.
To investigate the effects of transport stress on blood metabolism, glycolytic potential, and meat quality in male Chinese Lingnan meat-type yellow-feathered chickens, three hundred sixty 72-d-old birds were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatments: unstressed control, 45-min (short-term) transport with 45-min (short-term) recovery, 45-min transport with 3-h (long-term) recovery, 3-h (long-term) transport with 45-min recovery, and 3-h transport with 3-h recovery. Each treatment consisted of 6 replicates with 12 birds each. All birds (except control group) were transported according to a designed protocol. Long-term transport decreased the plasma glucose level (P < 0.001), glycogen concentration in both breast (P = 0.023) and thigh (P = 0.012) muscles, and affected the size of IIb fibers in the tibialis anterior by decreasing the area (P = 0.031) and increasing the density (P = 0.046), drip loss (P = 0.045), and the a* (redness; P = 0.040) value in breast muscle. Long-term recovery after transport also decreased the plasma glucose level (P = 0.018) and showed a trend toward decreased breast glycogen concentration (P = 0.064). These results suggested that transport did not cause any noticeable changes in overall meat quality characteristics, although breast meat drip loss and meat color were affected. A long-term recovery from a period of feed and water deprivation also caused hypoglycemia and did not improve meat quality in Lingnan meat-type yellow-feathered chickens.
Yue
H Y
HY
Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology of Ministry of Agriculture, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
Zhang
L
L
Wu
S G
SG
Xu
L
L
Zhang
H J
HJ
Qi
G H
GH
D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014186:Transportation
D001786:Blood Glucose