Breed Effects on Nutritive Value, Carcass and Non-carcass Components of Spent Hens of Nigeria Region

A study was carried out to determine the nutritive value, carcass and non-carcass characteristics of spent hens of Brown Nera exotic strain and the Normal-Feathered local hens in Nigeria with a view to ascertaining their suitability for consumption.

Twenty numbers of day old chicks each of local and exotic stocks were procured and kept intensively. The two breeds were offered the same feed with starter diet containing 2880 Kcal ME/kg and 186 g/kg of crude protein for the first 2 months; grower diet with 2970 KcalME/kg and 178g/kg crude protein for the next 3 months and layer diet with 2800 KcalME/kg and 178g/kg crude protein from onset of lay to the end of the experiment. At 72 weeks of age, 10 birds from each group were slaughtered, scalded in hot water, plucked and eviscerated. The plucked, eviscerated, carcass, cut-up parts - head, neck, drumstick, thigh, back, breast, wing shank and the non-carcass - heart, gizzard, lungs, liver, spleen, proventiculus, small intestine and abdominal fat weights were determined and expressed as percentages of the live weight.

The blood, plucked, eviscerated, carcass, breast, back, thigh, drumstick, neck, head, shank, gizzard, heart, lung, liver, spleen, proventiculus and intestinal weights were higher (p<0.05) in the local chicken and rest were higher in the exotic breed. Crude protein content of the thigh, liver and breast were higher (p<0.05) in the exotic breed; the cholesterol content higher (p<0.05) in the local breed and the rest were similar (p>0.05) between them.

The spent hens’ major muscles had similar nutritional value to commercial broiler meat except that it has higher fat content but lower cholesterol which might probably confer health promoting benefits on spent hen meat.