Carcass yields and meat cholesterol as influenced by stocking density and system of rearing in commercial broilers*

An experiment was conducted with straight-run commercial hybrid broiler chicks to study the effect of different stocking densities under deep litter (10, 11, 12 and 13 birds/m²) and cage system (16, 17, 18 and 19 birds/m²) of management on the carcass yields and meat quality characteristics. There were no significant differences observed in slaughter yields and serum and meat cholesterol level either due to stocking density or system of management at 40, 43, 46 and 49 days of age in commercial broilers. The total serum and meat cholesterol level was directly proportional to the age of broilers irrespective of system of management or stocking densities. Further, when compared to deep litter reared broilers, the cage reared broilers recorded slightly higher serum cholesterol level throughout the period. Irrespective of the stocking densities and age, the deep litter reared birds had higher breast and thigh meat cholesterol level than the cage reared broilers. Similarly irrespective of age, stocking density and systems of management, the thigh meat cholesterol was 55–65 per cent higher than the breast meat cholesterol level. The broiler meat qualities such as appearance, flavour, juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability were not significantly influenced by system of management. However the overall acceptability was slightly favourable for cage reared broilers.