article · Cogent Food & Agriculture
This research assesses how feed restriction affects carcass traits and meat quality in Tanbro and Sasso dual-purpose chickens raised intensively. Finishing birds experienced feed restrictions of zero, 15, or 25 percent over 21 or 28 days before slaughter at 77 days. Breed differences were clear: Tanbro birds yielded heavier carcasses, higher breast and thigh portions, more lean muscle, more crude protein, and more tender meat. Sasso chickens had higher levels of intramuscular fat and a lower lean-to-fat ratio. Increasing feed restriction cut abdominal fat and enhanced the lean-to-fat ratio, though it also reduced overall carcass weight and dressing percentage. A 21-day restriction supported higher carcass weights and muscle proportions than a 28-day restriction. Both breeds responded similarly to feed limitation, showing that finishing-phase restriction of up to 25 percent enhances carcass leanness without harming meat quality while keeping bird weights above commercially viable levels.
Poultry producers balancing feed costs and product quality need to manage carcass composition efficiently. This work demonstrates that managing the timing and intensity of finishing feeds can lower abdominal fat and raise the lean content of dual-purpose chickens. It provides direct evidence that producers can adopt moderate feeding limits to improve meat leanness while preserving tender, commercially viable yields.
The findings offer applied guidance directly usable by commercial poultry producers, farm managers, and feed planners working with dual-purpose breeds. By applying moderate feed cuts of up to 25 percent over 21 days, operations can cut finishing feed inputs while preserving carcass quality and target slaughter weights. Because this research involves standard finishing protocols and commercially viable thresholds, it represents an applied and tested management strategy ready for direct trial in commercial poultry units.
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This study evaluated the effects of breed, feed restriction (FR) intensity, and FR duration on carcass characteristics and meat quality in Sasso and Tanbro dual-purpose chickens under intensive production. A total of 360 birds were allocated in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial design (breed: Sasso, Tanbro; FR intensity: 0%, 15%, 25% of ad libitum intake; duration: 21, 28 days), applied during the finishing phase (day 43 to slaughter at 77 days). Breed significantly affected carcass and meat quality traits: Tanbro showed higher slaughter weight, carcass weight, breast and thigh yields, lean proportion, crude protein, and redness (a*), and lower shear force (p < 0.05), while Sasso had higher intramuscular fat and a poorer lean-to-fat ratio (p < 0.01). Increasing FR intensity progressively reduced slaughter weight, dressing percentage, and abdominal fat (p < 0.01), while improving lean-to-fat ratio. Shorter restriction (21 days) increased carcass weight and muscle proportion relative to 28 days (p < 0.01). No breed × restriction interactions were detected for any trait, indicating that Sasso and Tanbro, despite differing in baseline growth rate, respond to quantitative FR through a shared physiological pathway. These findings show that moderate FR (up to 25%) applied over 21–28 days during finishing improves carcass leanness without compromising meat quality, while maintaining commercially viable slaughter weights above 2 kg.
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DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2026.2724596
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