Composition of Poultry Meat as Affected by Nutritional Factors 1
JOHN D. SUMMERS and STEVEN LEESON
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University ofGuelph,
Guelph, Ontario NIG 2W1
(Received for publication October 24,1978)
In discussing the present subject it is first
necessary to define the term "poultry meat".
Poultry, unlike most other meat, is usually sold
as a complete carcass, or as portions with intact
skin. The poultry industry is therefore concerned
more with the composition of the entire carcass
in contrast to the situation with swine and beef
where carcasses are cut in an entirely different
manner and often sold in a processed form.
With the exception of some of the visceral
organs, the vitamin and mineral content of
poultry meat is not influenced by composition
changes within conventional diets. We are thus
primarily involved with the effect of diet on the
protein and fat content of the carcass. Sine? the
amino acid content of muscle is genetically con-
trolled, we are concerned only with the effect
of nutrition on the quantity of carcass protein
deposition. The composition of carcass fat,
however, can be altered by dietary fatty acid
content. The work of Marion and Woodroof
(1966) demonstrates that highly unsaturated
dietary fats will result in a more unsaturated car-
cass fat with the converse applying to saturated
dietary fats. Although it is acknowledged that a
high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in
poultry fat can lead to processing difficulties and
problems of consumer acceptance (oily bird syn-
drome), by and large this only occurs in isolated
cases and is not a major industry problem.
A major problem that does concern the in-
dustry is the quantity of fat deposited in rela-
tion to carcass protein. The main adipose
depots are found underlying the skin, in the ab-
dominal cavity, and especially around the vis-
cera. Although skin fat, including the depot
areas on the breast and back, are essential for
acceptable eating qualities, visceral and abdomi-
1 system of energy evaluation underestimates the
Presented at the 67th Annual Meeting of the
Poultry Science Association as part of a Symposium
entitled Factors Affecting the Composition of Meat
and Eggs.
536
1979 Poultry Science 58:536-542
nal fat add little to overall carcass quality, and
in most instances are considered as waste mate-
rial. Not only is this fat wasteful in terms of
dietary energy input, but also results in reduced
processing yield and greater cooking loss. Of
even greater concern than the direct monetary
loss to the industry is the increased public
awareness of the relationship between dietary
fat and human health.
The ratio of protein to fat in the carcass of
chicken broilers can be influenced by such di-
verse factors as diet composition, environmen-
tal temperature, type of housing, age, and sex
(Kubena et ah, 1972; 1974a; Edwards et ah,
1973; Deaton et ah, 1974; Evans et ah, 1976).
It is also well established that when birds are
fed energy in excess of normal metabolic needs,
fat deposition results, a considerable proportion
of which occurs in the abdominal area (Essary
et ah, I960; Macklin and Gordon, 1961, Ku-
bena et ah, 1974b; Griffiths et ah, 1977a). At-
temps at reducing adipose cell development
(Pfaffe and Austic, 1974; Austic and Pfaffe
1975; Griffiths et ah, 1977a) and a considera-
tion of the use of net rather than metabolizable
energy value (Griffiths et ah, 1977b) have con-
tributed little that can be economically utilized
by the industry today in alleviating the problem
of excess abdominal and visceral fat in broilers.
Recent results from our laboratory (Table 1)
demonstrate that energy intake, rather than
dietary energy level, is the main factor influ-
encing abdominal fat deposition. Diets of equal
energy content but varying in amount of pro-
tein result in marked differences in abdominal
fat (Table 1), pointing out that carcass fat con-
tent can be reduced by dietary means; however,
the cost of higher dietary protein levels can be
uneconomical.
Since Degroote (1974) suggests that the ME
energy value of fats, and other data (Jensen et
ah, 1970) indicate a disproportionately large
deposition of carcass fat in relation to that pro-
 NUTRITION AND POULTRY MEAT 537

TABLE 1. Effect of energy level and calorie:protein ratio on weight gain and carcass
composition of male broilers (4 to 8 vtks)3
Abdominal fat pad 1
Wt gain Caloric intake Moisture
Contrasts (4 to 8 wk g) (keal ME) (% body wt) (%)

ME (kcal/kg)
2970 1448* 10,404b 2.57b 17.1*
3190 1454* 10,425b 2.55b 16.7*
Calorie:protein 2 ratio
188 1451* 10,789* 3.19* 14.3b
160 1463* 10,324b 2.6lb 17.0*
139 1440* 10,152= 2.22 c 17.5*
1
Considered to be that in the abdomen as well as that surrounding the gizzard and extending within the
ischium and bursa.
2
Constant energy level of 2970 kcal/kg and protein levels of 15.8, 18.6, and 21.4%.
3
Griffiths et al, (1977a).
a ,c
' Means followed by the same superscript are not significantly different (P<.05).

vided by dietary fat, we conducted an experi-
ment to compare the effect of the ME and NE
energy evaluation systems in relation to carcass
composition. Diets containing graded levels of
fat and isocaloric with respect to ME would
therefore be expected to produce variations in
carcass energy retention commensurate with
the theorized increased utilization of calories
derived from fat. Diets containing comparable
levels of fat, but isocaloric in terms of NE,
would not be expected to show this extra ca-
loric effect. Our results do not confirm this hy-
pothesis (Griffiths et al, 1977b) with birds con-
suming the NE diets exhibiting an inferior body
weight and feed:body weight gain.
Since little progress in alleviating abdominal
fat deposition appears to have been made with
nutritional adaptations, it was decided to study
the problem with a number of strain crosses in
the hope of implementing genetic effects.
Chicks from 4 commercial broiler strain crosses
were hatched from eggs brought to the Univer-
sity facilities. At one day of age, 90 males from
each strain were offered a commercial broiler
starter diet. At 4 weeks, 50 birds were used for
carcass analysis while the remainder were indi-
vidually caged and individual feed intake mea-
sured to 8 weeks of age at which time carcass
analysis was again undertaken. Results to 4
weeks of age are shown in Table 2. Although
statistically significant strain differences were
observed in both visceral and carcass fat con-
tent, their practical significance may be ques-
tioned. Comparable conclusions were ascer-
tained from data obtained with the older mar-
ket weight birds (Table 3). Comparison of
strain mean data shown in Tables 2 and 3 indi-
cate the rapid development of visceral fat dur-
ing the finisher period, since from 4 to 8 weeks
of age carcass fat content increased some 12%
while visceral fat content increased by 40% over
the same period. The relationships of abdomi-
nal fat content with 8 week body weight, 4 to 8
week feed intake, 4 to 8 week feed:gain ratio
and carcass fat gave low or nonsignificant corre-
lations with the exception of carcass fat (Grif-

TABLE 2. Carcass fat parameters and 4 week body weights of males

from 4 commercial broiler strains

Strain
1 2 3 4

Body wt (g) 75 3 747 733 724

Visceral fat (% dry matter)1 43.lb 41.3* 47.3 C 44.7b
Visceral fat (% body wt) 2.0* b 1.7* 2.3 b 2.0* b
Carcass fat (% dry matter) 41.2*b 39.6* 43.4b 40.0*
1
Visceral fat included all the viscera plus the abdominal fat.
a' bMeans followed by the same superscript are not significantly different (P<.05).
538 SUMMERS AND LEESON

TABLE 3. Performance and carcass fat parameters of individually caged broiler males
from 4 to 8 weeks of age

Strain
1
Bodywt(g) 2118 2096 2246 2032
Abdominal fat (% body wt) 2.44 ab 2.35a 2.76c 2.66 bc
Visceral fat (% dry matter) 62.6 ab 61 . l a 64.8C 63.6 bc
Carcass fat (% dry matter) 47.4b 44.9a 46.5 ab 47.9 b

a,b,c Means followed by the same superscript are not significantly different (P<.05).

fiths et al., 1978). However, the variation ob-
served between strains and the failure of one
strain to show a significant correlation between
abdominal fat and carcass fat, suggests that car-
cass fat cover may not necessarily indicate the
extent of abdominal fat deposition.
Comparable to values reported by Kubena et
al (1974a) and Deaton et al. (1974) coefficient
of variation (CV) for 8 week abdominal fat pad
weight averaged 26% for the 4 strains (Table 4).
The CV recorded 4 weeks earlier was somewhat
less, although still far in excess of the CV re-
corded for body weight.
Since there was marked variation within the
parameters measured, which did not appear to
be markedly influenced by strain, data have
been grouped for the extremes of each param-
eter and averaged across strains. Ranking data
from individual birds (Table 5) shows the mean
strain performance of the top 5 birds/40 bird
sample/strain (i.e. a 20 bird sample). Selecting
large vs. small bodied birds resulted in a numeri-
cal increase in abdominal fat deposition, while
grouping for best vs. poorest feed:body weight
gain had the opposite effect. Selection for fat-
pad weight showed a positive relationship with
body weight. It was interesting to note that se-
lection for body weight had no effect on feed
efficiency and vice versa. Although these data
indicate the basis for a genetical selection pro-
grame, based on abdominal fat, the concomit-
ant reduction in body size would obviously
limit its practical application.
Workers from Georgia (Guill and Washburn,
1974; Washburn et al., 1975a,b) have studied
the details of genetical selection over a number
of generations; their observations indicate some
merit in a genetic approach to solving the prob-
lem of excess fat depsition.
In an attempt to gain further information on
the involvement of diet with fat deposition, a
study was conducted in which broiler chickens
were allowed a simultaneous free choice of two
diets providing concentrated sources of either
energy or protein. Diets and procedures em-
ployed were similar to those recently reported
for pullets (Leeson and Summers, 1978). Thus,
control birds were reared on a commercial feed-
ing program while test birds were offered split
diets providing: 1) 45% CP and 2462 kcal ME/
kg and 2) 8% CP and 3184 kcal ME kg; within
these diets methionine was adjusted to > 2% CP
and lysine to >5% CP. Performance of birds
offered these diets is in Table 6. The birds fed
the split diets were far inferior in weight gain as
compared to the control birds while males and
females practicing self-selection had similar
body weights. Consumption of the split diets
resulted in a significant increase in carcass fat
content. Again, it is of interest that males and

TABLE 4. Comparison of the variation occurring in visceral and abdominal fat

with 4 and 8 week old broilers as measured by coefficient of variation

Strain
1 2 3 4 Mean

Visceral fat (4 wks)' 20.9 24.9 17.1 21.6 21.1

Abdominal fat (8 wks) 23.7 26.8 25.3 26.0 25.5
Body weight (4 wks) 10.6 12.3 9.9 10.3 10.8
Body weight (8 wks) 9.7 7.8 9.5 9.7 9.2
1
Includes visceral and abdominal fat.
 NUTRITION AND POULTRY MEAT 539

TABLE 5. Performance and abdominal fat pad weight of birds selected for various
criteria and averaged across strain*

4 to 8 week
Selection 8 week body Feed:body Abdominal fat
parameter weight (g) weight gain (% body weight)

Best feed:body weight gain 2246DC 2.45 a 2.35bc

Poorest feed: body weight gain 2121 b 2.96 c 2.90 c
Largest bird 2413 d 2.67 b 2.80b<:
Smallest bird 1892* 2.77b 2.30 b
Largest fat pad 2279=d 2.74b 3.45 d
Smallest fat pad 1930a 2.66 b 1.60 a

Each observation based on 5 birds selected within each of the 4 strains for each specific parameter.
a.b,c.Means followed by the same superscript are not significantly different (P<.05).

females on the split diets exhibited similar
values for this parameter. Broilers fed the split
diets were far more efficient in converting die-
tary protein to carcass protein. The control
birds became less efficient in protein utilization
with advancing age; however, age had little
effect on efficiency of protein utilization for
the birds fed the split diets.
Since feed intake of the two split diets was
recorded separately, it is possible to calculate
the composition of the overall diet that the test
birds consumed (Table 7). Several points are
especially pertinent. One is the low level of pro-
tein consumed by the birds while another is
the similarity in composition of the diets con-
sumed by males and females. That the low level
of protein intake may represent a close approxi-
mation of the true protein requirement of these
birds is supported by the finding of similar die-
tary protein levels for Leghorn pullets of the
same age (Leeson and Summers, 1978). Al-
though this research adds little to our under-
standing of excess fat deposition in broilers, it
does raise some rather interesting observations
that require further study.
In seeking an explanation as to why broilers
have apparently altered their rate of abdominal
fat deposition, growth curves of mixed sex
broiler flocks reared in 1958 and 1978 are com-
pared (Fig. 1). While it is obvious that growth
rate per se has increased, the shape of these
curves is of interest. Weight gain of today's
broiler increases at a greater rate as the bird gets
older. It is also known that increasingly greater
quantities of this gain, relative to age, is associ-
ated with fat deposition. Since it is well estab-

TABLE 6. Weight gain, protein utilization, and carcass fat content of broilers
fed split diets

Protein utiliization
Weight Carcass fat (in take: carcass
(g) (% dry wt) content)
Age
(wks) l1 2 1 2 1 2

6 343 224 31.6 49.9 1.66 1.94

2
9 315 214 34.2 48.3 1.66 1.93
d 947 583 37.4 52.9 2.08 1.96
4
9 816 584 39.9 53.0 2.12 1.81

d 1574 966 40.7 59.9 2.12 1.75

6
9 1293 922 42.9 58.2 2.21 1.80

d 2392 1538 44.6 57.4 2.87 1.76

8
9 1904 1404 44.7 55.4 2.45 1.94
1
1 , Control; 2, split diets.
540 SUMMERS AND LEESON

TABLE 7. Composition of diets consumed by

broilers fed split diets
Control : /
Period (wk) 2000
Split diet s / /
0 to 2 2 to 4 4 to 6 6 to !
1500
Protein (%) 6 12.3 12.1 9.2 9.8
9 12.9 12.6 8.9 9.2 440
Energy d 3256 3256 3323 3310 1000 CT> / / 'f i 400
(kcal ME/kg) 9 3237 3241 3334 3323 • 360
s / / s /•

>
/

320
/ / ^ • " #>

500 00
y ^ s*~ -///
280
240
200
lished that birds fed an excess of dietary energy 0
J ^ y Body fat (g)
deposit a substantial part of it as fat, it would 160
appear that broilers are now consuming energy 120
far in excess of their metabolic ability for tissue 80
growth, leading to accrual of greater depot fat Age (wks)
40
deposits. 0

In this context it is of interest to study

growth rate and fat deposition in birds fed regu-
lar, and the previously described, split diets
(Fig. 2). Marked differences are observed be-
tween the growth rate of male and female birds
fed the control diet, and between these groups
and those birds fed split diets. However, abso-
lute deposition (or synthesis) of total body fat
was remarkably similar for these divergent body
weight groups.
It is tempting to speculate on the role of fat
FIG. 2. Body weight and absolute carcass fat
curves for broilers fed regular or split diets.
synthesis in relation to feed intake regulation.
Recent reports from Israel on overfeeding and
its effect on growth and obesity offer some in-
teresting leads to studying this problem. (Nir et
al., 1974; Nitsan et al, 1974; Nir et al, 1978;
Shapira et al, 1978). Force feeding a New
Hampshire x White Leghorn bird (Nir et al,
197'4) resulted in a weight gain curve (Fig. 3)
similar to the one noted in Figure 1 for today's

2500

400
2000

Ol
300
1500
g
/ ^'-"(5'i
/ / ' (50.0) 200
1000
/ ^ ^ 4 4 . 8 )
/^1-''136.7)
500 ,-^'(18.0) 1978 100
1958
•^m.u
(0) Age (wks)
(0) Experimental period (day)
1 2 3 4 ^ 6 7 8 3 6 9 12 15
( ) % difference in weighc gam between the two periods
Nir et al. 1974 (Selected data)

FIG. 1. Body weight gain for a mixed flock of FIG. 3. Body weight of force-fed and ad
broilers in 1958 and 1978. lib. -fed chicks during 15 day experimental period.
 NUTRITION AND POULTRY MEAT 541

TABLE 8. Body weight gain, organ weight, and ally selecting for a p p e t i t e , such t h a t this "fin-
abdominal fat of light and heavy breed chicks ishing p e r i o d " occurs at a very y o u n g age, w i t h
after ad libitum feeding or overfeeding
excess energy intake leading to o u r "over f a t "
for 18 days*
problem.
LB HB Even if this h y p o t h e s i s is correct, it still
leaves us at a loss as t o h o w t h e p r o b l e m m a y
Weight (g) 1 2 1 2
be corrected, since selection for decreased feed
Feed intake 467 668 691 799 intake will invariably affect weight gain. T h e in-
Initial weight 46 48 53 50 dustry m a y be at t h e stage where it is necessary
Weight gain 217 291 382 405 t o critically evaluate factors o t h e r t h a n weight
Gizzard 6.5 7.1 11.7 13.1 for age in selection programs if acceptable car-
Duodenum 1.73 3.52 2.47 3.35
cass quality is to be maintained.
Liver 7.1 21.7 12.1 22.2
Heart 2.03 2.10 2.93 3.23
Abdominal fat .86 7.80 2.83 4.95
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