Comparative Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality of Local Horro and Exotic Cockerels of Tropical Origin Fed Growers Diet

Growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of male chickens were evaluated using eight-week-old 360 cockerels from three exotic (Koekoek, Kuroiler and Sasso-R) and one Ethiopian indigenous (Horro) genotypes. Cockerels in each breed (90) were randomly allocated into three replications of 30 birds each and housed in deep litter pens for the experiment that lasted for 8 to 16 weeks. The experiment was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design. Seven birds per breed were slaughtered at the end to determine carcass yield, chemical composition and quality attributes of meat. The Kuroiler breed has higher body weight, body weight change (1621.8 g), average daily gain (28.9 g/day), daily feed consumption (127.4 g/day) and better feed conversion ratio (4.40) than other breeds. The Kuroiler breed has heavier slaughter weight (2716.3 g), dressed carcass weight (2201.0 g), eviscerated carcass weight (1905.1 g), breast weight (537.7 g), thigh weight (303.1 g) and drumstick weight (274.8 g) than other breeds. Total edible offal was higher for Kuroiler (324.2 g) and Sasso-R (306.1 g), intermediate in Koekoek (204.4 g) and low in Horro (152.4 g) breed. The relative proportion of breast and drumstick (% slaughter weight) were lower in Koekoek and Sasso-R (17.3 and 8.9) breeds, respectively. Abdominal fat weight (13.7 g and 1.02%) was lowest in Horro. Sasso-R showed higher percent edible offal weight (13.4%) than Horro breed (11.4%). The DM content in breast and thigh meat was higher for Horro breed than the rest. The CP content in the breast and thigh meat was lower for the Kuroiler and Koekoek breeds, respectively. Higher EE in the thigh meat was recorded for Sasso-R (8.9%), whereas, EE content in the breast meat was similar (3.4% - 3.7%) among the breeds. Flavor, tenderness, juiciness and general acceptability of breast and thigh meat were not affected by breed. The highest net return was observed in the Kuroiler breed. Based on the results obtained, it is suggested that the Kuroiler breed can be used for cockerel meat production in Ethiopia where intensive broiler production is not well developed.