EFFECT OF SLAUGHTERING METHOD ON THE KEEPING QUALITY OF BROILER CHICKENS' MEAT

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different slaughtering methods (Islamic traditional Islamic, hanging and electrical stunning). A total of 81male broiler chickens 42 day of age were selected according to average body weight and randomly divided into 3 groups. The birds were further divided into three replicates and were allotted the completely randomized design. The chickens within each group were weighed and were slaughtered by one of three slaughtering methods (traditional, hanging and stunning). The bled blood of each bird was collected and weighed. The carcass was weighed> Three parts from each carcass were chosen (breast, thigh and wing) to estimate the deterioration level at 3 different times after slaughtering (6 hrs, 48 hrs and 96 hrs). There was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.01) in bled blood weight with respect to the slaughtering method. Stunning method had the lowest amount (50 gm) while the hanging method had the highest amount (67 gm). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) on the bacterial count due to the slaughtering method at 6 hours postmortem. Nevertheless, the breast had the highest and the thigh had the lowest bacterial count. There was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.01) on the bacterial count with respect to slaughtering method at 48 hours postmortem, where the electrical stunning method having the highest count (83 x 10 6 ) and the Islamic hanging method had the lowest count (55 x 10 6 ). At 96 hours, post mortem there was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.01) on the bacterial count with respect to slaughtering method on the same trend as at 48 hours. The Islamic hanging method seem to be the best one among the three methods, and therefore it is recommend to be used for slaughtering of the broiler chickens. Key Word: Slaughtering Method, Keeping Quality, Chickens' Meat