Effect of age and sex on the eviscerated yield, muscle and edible offal of a commercial broiler strain

1. Comparisons of the effects of age (up to 364 d) and sex on the rate of growth, eviscerated yield, blood loss and yield of skin, breast, thigh and drumstick muscles, heart, liver and gizzard have been made on a commercial British broiler strain. 2. Male broilers grew linearly up to 76 d whereas the females grew more slowly after 35 d. At 364 d the difference in live body weight was small. 3. Up to 56 d, males had a slightly higher eviscerated yield. There was no significant difference between the sexes beyond this age. 4. The proportional yield of breast muscle was variable with age, whereas that of thigh and drumstick increased with age in the male, particularly at 175 and 364 d. 5. After 35 d the proportion of skin was larger in females, whereas the gizzard as a proportion of live body weight in both sexes decreased rapidly between 21 and 76 d. Blood loss during killing was always higher in male broilers after 21 d.