Pathomorphological and Meat Quality Alterations Connected with Wooden Breast in Broiler Chickens of Different Genotypes and Slaughter Ages

This study examined pathomorphological changes and meat quality alterations associated with Wooden Breast Myopathy (WB) in total of 192 broiler chickens divided into Ross 308 (n=96) and Cobb 500 (n=96) heavy hybrids at ages 42, 60, and 70 days. WB occurrence remained consistently high (>73%) across periods, peaking on day 70 (83% for Ross, 90% for Cobb). Cobb broilers had better production results and carcass traits parameters after day 42 and day 60 of the experiment (p≤0.05). Genotype did not affect WB occurrence or severity, while slaughter age influenced severe cases WB occurrence, increasing from 11.67% on day 42 to 36.67% on day 70 (p=0.003). The presence of WB was associated with higher ultimate pH, lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) of the muscle (p<0.0001), except on day 70. Physicochemical and color parameters were also influenced by slaughter age (p<0.0001). On day 42, drip loss (p<0.0001), cooking loss (p≤0.05) and shear force (p<0.0001) were affected by genotype. On days 60 and 70, the differences in water retention capacity were observed only between normal and severely affected breasts (p<0.0001). For each slaughter age severely affected WB had higher shear force compared to normal breasts (p<0.0001). Additionally, with the increasing slaughter age of broilers, drip loss, cooking loss, and shear force of the breast meat were increased (p<0.0001). The results obtained regarding the occurrence and severity of WB and its consequent meat quality alterations suggest that extended fattening is not recommended for poultry production.