Evaluation of Caponization on Growth and Meat Quality Parameters of Dual-Purpose Chicken

Abstract

Caponization is a surgical technique that alters the sexual maturation of male chickens and improves quality characteristics of carcass and meat. The present experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effects of caponization on body weight, carcass composition and meat quality of dual purpose chicken. A total of 48 dual-purpose breeds of Chicken, namely New Hampshire (NH) and Black Australorp (BA) were examined in a 2 × 2 factorial design each treatment having twelve birds till the age of 32 weeks. The results showed that the growth rate up until the age of 20 are not significant statistically which became significant afterwards (p<0.01). Likewise, some desirable changes in body morphology, carcass quality (p<0.05) and dressing out recovery were also observed. The hedonic ranking test also inferred that the meat from capons are liked by consumers highly significantly (p<0.01). The results of this study indicate that the caponized chicken can be used as a valuable material for production of high quality meat. Based on the overall results patterns and indication of this study, a more detailed study to minutely study the fatty acid, amino acid and mineral profile along with evaluation of the proper age at which caponization can bring about the most desirable changes should be lined up. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 6(4): 339-343