Association of residual feed intake with growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and blood variables in native chickens

Improving feed efficiency is a primary goal in poultry breeding strategies. Residual feed intake (RFI) in chickens typically calculated during the growing period is a measure of feed efficiency that is independent of the level of production. The objective of this study was to evaluate phenotypic correlations of growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and blood variables with RFI in growing native chickens. A total of 1,008 chickens were selected for the experiment to derive RFI. After the RFI measurement period of 42 d, 25 chickens with low RFI values, 25 chickens with medium RFI values, and 25 chickens with high RFI values were selected. The RFI was significantly positively correlated with feed conversion ratio and average daily feed intake, while it was not significantly correlated with initial body weight (BW), final BW, average daily body weight gain, and metabolic BW0.75. The abdominal fat weight and yield of high RFI group were significantly greater than those of medium and low RFI groups, and the abdominal fat yield was significantly positively correlated with RFI. Moreover, the plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) content of low RFI group was significantly greater than those of high and medium RFI groups. The plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone, triiodothyronine (T3), and cortisol of high RFI birds were significantly greater than that of low RFI birds. RFI was significantly positively correlated with plasma concentrations of T3 and cortisol, while it was significantly negatively correlated with plasma concentration of IGF-1. In addition, the serum levels of glucose and triglyceride of high RFI birds were significantly lower than that of low RFI birds. The serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) content of high RFI group was significantly greater than that of medium and low RFI groups, and it was significantly positively correlated with RFI. Our data suggested that selection of chickens with low RFI values may be beneficial to reduce fat deposition in native chickens without affecting the meat quality. Circulating IGF-1, T3, cortisol, and LDL-C concentrations can be used as indirect selection indicators of feed efficiency in native chickens. The effect of IGF-1, T3, cortisol, and LDL-C on feed efficiency of native chickens should be carefully examined and validated in future breeding programs.