Effects of slaughter age and mass selection on slaughter and carcass characteristics in 2 lines of Japanese quail.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between slaughter age and slaughter-carcass characteristics in 2 quail lines. With this aim, a Japanese quail flock subjected to mass selection to increase BW for 4 generations and a control flock that randomly mated for 4 generations were used. Birds of both lines were slaughtered at 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 wk of age. Weights of carcass, breast, leg, wing, edible inner organs, and abdominal fat, and their percentages in BW were measured. Short-term mass selection for increased BW resulted in an increase for all slaughter and carcass traits, except edible inner organ percentage. Slaughter age had a significant effect on the studied traits, indicating that the BW and weight of carcass, carcass parts, abdominal fat, edible inner organs, and percentage of abdominal fat increased with increased slaughter age. Conversely, the carcass yield and percentages of carcass parts and edible inner organs were decreased with an increase in slaughter age. The present study showed that deterioration in carcass quality occurred with an increase in slaughter age. Furthermore, the differences between the carcass weights over the different ages ranged between 16.83 to 22.45% in favor of the selection line after a short-term mass selection.