Physicochemical Comparison between the Broiler and Layer Carcasses and their Meat

Layer chickens are an important species of poultry that has the ability to produce a large amount of eggs destined for consumption. However, after the end of the period of egg production and the preparation of their carcasses for marketing, the physicochemical quality of their meat is subject to debate. Therefore, a total of 100 random laying chicken samples intended for slaughter are randomly collected from different farms at Ismailia city after the end of the egg production period. All samples were inspected to ensure their suitability for consumers through determination of its live weight, carcass weight, dressing weight and meat weight. Other search aim was to determine of the physiochemical quality of this examined layer meat samples by estimation of pH, drip loss, cooking loss, proximate chemical analysis in comparing to broiler samples as control and the Egyptian standard specification. The results revealed that, there is a significant increase (P<0.05) in the live weight and carcass weight of layer carcasses by 5.4% and 22.1% respectively more than broiler, while there was insignificant increase (P>0.05) in dressing weight of layer carcasses. There were a significant increase (P<0.05) in pH, drip loss and cooking loss in layer hen meat in compared to broiler meat. Using of acid milk as marinating techniques could improve sensory and physical quality of layer meat and could prefer by consumers.