Comparison of Selected Quality Attributes of Chicken Meat as Affected by Rearing Systems

The objective of this study was to establish the effect of rearing conditions of slowly-growing Hubbard JA 957 chickens on selected quality attributes of their meat. Birds from the control group (C) were kept on litter over the entire rearing period, whereas these from the experimental group (E) - with access to free range since the 4th week of life. The birds were slaughtered on day 63, and collected samples of breast muscles were assayed for proximate chemical composition, technological properties, and fatty acid profile in intramuscular fat. The study demonstrated no significant differences in the chemical composition of muscles depending on rearing systems. Meat of chickens using free range was characterized by higher shear force (P <= 0.01), which shows that it is tougher than the meat of chickens which do not use the free range. No significant differences were seen in physicochemical values when it comes to different systems of rearing. The access to free range has no influence on fatty acid formation either. The lack of significant differences indicates that the system of rearing has a minor effect on the quality of poultry meat.