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Body and Abdominal Fat Weight Reduction upon Feed Withdrawal in Coturnix Quail1
Body and Abdominal Fat Weight Reduction upon Feed Withdrawal in Coturnix Quail1 WALTER A. BECKER, SANDRA WORDEN, and LARRY W. MIROSH Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-6310 (Received for publication August 16, 1984)
1985 Poultry Science 64:597-599
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Frozen ready-to-cook Coturnix quail carcasses are being sold through supermarket chains in the Southeast United States (Hamm and Ang, 1982). The length of time feed, not water, is withdrawn from quail or broiler chickens, although minimizing fecal contamination of the carcass during evisceration, is also of importance to yield of saleable product. Bush and Marquardt (1978) found that starved, 16-week-old male Coturnix quail progressively lost weight. After 7 days of starvation, size of heart, liver, testes, and breast muscle was decreased, and the fat lining of the abdomen, heart, and kidney was almost absent. Essary and Schuler (1981) showed that providing 49-day-old broilers with feed and water to slaughter time increased saleable carcass weight less giblets by 90.8 g. Nir et al. (1974) starved 41-day-old chickens for 30 hr and reduced carcass fat content by 2%. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of feed withdrawal time on body and abdominal fat weights of Coturnix quail.
Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) chicks were hatched from a randombred population maintained at Washington State University. The chicks were reared on the floor under 24 hr of light and fed a ration ad libitum consisting of 23.0% protein and 3,183 kcal/kg for the experimental period. At 28 days of age, the quail were sexed and the females discarded. All quail were killed at 49 days of age by cervical dislocation. The feed withdrawal times before slaughter were 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr. At this time each treatment's quail were placed in a crate with water available. Twenty-six quail were used in each treatment except for Treatment 48 when 24 were used. After quail were killed, they were placed in polyethylene bags and stored in a refrigerator at 3.3 C until dissection 2 days later. Each quail was weighed prior to dissection. The abdomen was opened at the posterior end of the sternum and an anterior cut was made to the junction between the vertebral and sternal ribs. Leaf fat was loosened from around the cloaca and under the viscera, then pulled away from the gizzard. Gizzard fat was removed from around the gizzard to the point between the proventriculus and gizzard and at the attachment of the duodenum. Leaf fat and gizzard fat were weighed separately and together were considered abdominal fat.
1 Scientific Paper No. 6897, College of Agriculture and Home Economics Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Project 0343.
597
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on April 18, 2015
ABSTRACT Coturnix quail are used for human consumption, and loss of live weight prior to slaughter must be minimized. Feed, but not water, was withdrawn from 49-day-old, male Coturnix quail for times (treatments) of 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr. Number of quail per treatment ranged from 24 to 26. Body weight decreased as length of feed withdrawal increased, but the difference between treatments 12 and 24 was not significant (P>.05). The largest loss in abdominal fat weight (1.10 g) and percentage abdominal fat of body weight (.91%) was between Treatments 0 and 48. The lack of significance (P>.05) among Treatments 0, 12, and 24 indicates stability of abdominal fat during 24-hr feed withdrawal. These results indicate that body weight is affected more than abdominal fat weight by feed withdrawal in processing quail. (Key words: Coturnix quail, feed withdrawal, body weight, abdominal fat)
BECKER ET AL.
00
o
TABLE 2. Correlation coefficients between body •weight minus abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat weight by feed withdrawal time
1 - ON NO
0\ 00 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
\0
o
NO NO
o
o\
OS
00
Treatment Trait
12
Body weight minus abdominal fat weight X abdominal fat weight
N roOO
9 *"! 1 °.
24
48
.71 .71 .74 .86 .91
+l +i +i +i +i +i y o o o XI J3 -Q XI rt rt rt ffj t» r» •* o
oo
00
+1 +1 +1 +1 -H -H u c; X> X> rt rt NO m
rt ^ CO ^H
^
.a
u
XI ffl ON r^ f S (N r-(
rt t^
o\
P>.05).
ON
o\
O o\ NO »-H ON 0 0
fi ON
+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 + l Q
X> rt m X> 0 0 Os TT " t r-i *-H N T - (
Xl
CJ
rt
TH
YH
o
o ON o o o
00
+1
+1
o rt +i
00 i n in
00
rt
NO
rt
+1
+1
,-H O
ON +1
m in
rt rt
o
NO
o
&0
be
X! « bo'C ^
60
£ >s§ '(J (J ( J
If
J
£'
•" c c .g
fa'
"2 '§'6 £ .2 x i x> o
a<<«
Si
^ •n ^
ant
,H Ov
The means and standard deviations for body weight and fat weights of 49-day-old Coturnix quail on feed withdrawal times of 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr are given in Table 1. There was a significant (P<.05) loss in body weight over the 48-hr period except between Treatments 12 and 24. Leaf fat and gizzard fat were not affected as much as body weight by feed withdrawal. In Treatment 0, leaf fat was 91.3% and gizzard fat 8.6% of abdominal fat. Abdominal fat was heavier for the quail on Treatment 0 than for the quail subjected to feed withdrawal, but the difference in fat weight was not significant between Treatments 0, 12, and 24, indicating stability of this fat between 0 and 24 hr. Calculating abdominal fat as percentage of body weight or subtracting abdominal fat weight from body weight to remove the partwhole effect did not change the significance of these traits as direct weights. Correlation coefficients between body weight minus abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat weight are given in Table 2. The correlations were high (r = .71 to .91), indicating that muscle and abdominal fat weight in Coturnix quail are highly correlated. These results support Sadjadi and Becker (1980) who obtained phenotypic correlations between these traits of .76 (males) and .57 (females) for 58-day-old quail. Regression coefficients of body and abdominal fat weight on time show that for every hour of feed withdrawal, body weight decreased .33 g and abdominal fat weight decreased .02 g. Body weight was affected more by feed withdrawal than was abdominal fat. Coturnix quail have a higher rate of metabolism than broiler chickens; therefore, the length of time to empty the intestinal tract would appear to be shorter.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on April 18, 2015
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
RESEARCH NOTE REFERENCES Bush, R. S., and R. R. Marquardt, 1978. Effects of age, sex and starvation on the turnover of plasma, liver and breast muscle proteins in the Japanese quail. J. Nutr. 108:296-300. Essary, E. O., and G. A. Schuler, 1981. Are we starving yield out of our broilers? Broiler Ind. (January). Hamm, D., and C.Y.W. Ang, 1982. Nutrient composi-
599
tion of quail meat from three sources. J. Food Sci. 47:1613-1614. Nir, I., N. Shapira, Y. Nitsan, and Y. Dror, 1974. Force-feeding effects on growth, carcass and blood composition in the young chick. Br. Poult. Sci. 32:229-239. Sadjadi, M., and W. A. Becker, 1980. Heritability and genetic correlations of body weight and surgically removed abdominal fat in Coturnix quail. Poultry Sci. 59:1977-1984.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on April 18, 2015
1985 Poultry Science 64:597-599
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Frozen ready-to-cook Coturnix quail carcasses are being sold through supermarket chains in the Southeast United States (Hamm and Ang, 1982). The length of time feed, not water, is withdrawn from quail or broiler chickens, although minimizing fecal contamination of the carcass during evisceration, is also of importance to yield of saleable product. Bush and Marquardt (1978) found that starved, 16-week-old male Coturnix quail progressively lost weight. After 7 days of starvation, size of heart, liver, testes, and breast muscle was decreased, and the fat lining of the abdomen, heart, and kidney was almost absent. Essary and Schuler (1981) showed that providing 49-day-old broilers with feed and water to slaughter time increased saleable carcass weight less giblets by 90.8 g. Nir et al. (1974) starved 41-day-old chickens for 30 hr and reduced carcass fat content by 2%. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of feed withdrawal time on body and abdominal fat weights of Coturnix quail.
Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) chicks were hatched from a randombred population maintained at Washington State University. The chicks were reared on the floor under 24 hr of light and fed a ration ad libitum consisting of 23.0% protein and 3,183 kcal/kg for the experimental period. At 28 days of age, the quail were sexed and the females discarded. All quail were killed at 49 days of age by cervical dislocation. The feed withdrawal times before slaughter were 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr. At this time each treatment's quail were placed in a crate with water available. Twenty-six quail were used in each treatment except for Treatment 48 when 24 were used. After quail were killed, they were placed in polyethylene bags and stored in a refrigerator at 3.3 C until dissection 2 days later. Each quail was weighed prior to dissection. The abdomen was opened at the posterior end of the sternum and an anterior cut was made to the junction between the vertebral and sternal ribs. Leaf fat was loosened from around the cloaca and under the viscera, then pulled away from the gizzard. Gizzard fat was removed from around the gizzard to the point between the proventriculus and gizzard and at the attachment of the duodenum. Leaf fat and gizzard fat were weighed separately and together were considered abdominal fat.
1 Scientific Paper No. 6897, College of Agriculture and Home Economics Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Project 0343.
597
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on April 18, 2015
ABSTRACT Coturnix quail are used for human consumption, and loss of live weight prior to slaughter must be minimized. Feed, but not water, was withdrawn from 49-day-old, male Coturnix quail for times (treatments) of 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr. Number of quail per treatment ranged from 24 to 26. Body weight decreased as length of feed withdrawal increased, but the difference between treatments 12 and 24 was not significant (P>.05). The largest loss in abdominal fat weight (1.10 g) and percentage abdominal fat of body weight (.91%) was between Treatments 0 and 48. The lack of significance (P>.05) among Treatments 0, 12, and 24 indicates stability of abdominal fat during 24-hr feed withdrawal. These results indicate that body weight is affected more than abdominal fat weight by feed withdrawal in processing quail. (Key words: Coturnix quail, feed withdrawal, body weight, abdominal fat)
BECKER ET AL.
00
o
TABLE 2. Correlation coefficients between body •weight minus abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat weight by feed withdrawal time
1 - ON NO
0\ 00 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
\0
o
NO NO
o
o\
OS
00
Treatment Trait
12
Body weight minus abdominal fat weight X abdominal fat weight
N roOO
9 *"! 1 °.
24
48
.71 .71 .74 .86 .91
+l +i +i +i +i +i y o o o XI J3 -Q XI rt rt rt ffj t» r» •* o
oo
00
+1 +1 +1 +1 -H -H u c; X> X> rt rt NO m
rt ^ CO ^H
^
.a
u
XI ffl ON r^ f S (N r-(
rt t^
o\
P>.05).
ON
o\
O o\ NO »-H ON 0 0
fi ON
+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 + l Q
X> rt m X> 0 0 Os TT " t r-i *-H N T - (
Xl
CJ
rt
TH
YH
o
o ON o o o
00
+1
+1
o rt +i
00 i n in
00
rt
NO
rt
+1
+1
,-H O
ON +1
m in
rt rt
o
NO
o
&0
be
X! « bo'C ^
60
£ >s§ '(J (J ( J
If
J
£'
•" c c .g
fa'
"2 '§'6 £ .2 x i x> o
a<<«
Si
^ •n ^
ant
,H Ov
The means and standard deviations for body weight and fat weights of 49-day-old Coturnix quail on feed withdrawal times of 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr are given in Table 1. There was a significant (P<.05) loss in body weight over the 48-hr period except between Treatments 12 and 24. Leaf fat and gizzard fat were not affected as much as body weight by feed withdrawal. In Treatment 0, leaf fat was 91.3% and gizzard fat 8.6% of abdominal fat. Abdominal fat was heavier for the quail on Treatment 0 than for the quail subjected to feed withdrawal, but the difference in fat weight was not significant between Treatments 0, 12, and 24, indicating stability of this fat between 0 and 24 hr. Calculating abdominal fat as percentage of body weight or subtracting abdominal fat weight from body weight to remove the partwhole effect did not change the significance of these traits as direct weights. Correlation coefficients between body weight minus abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat weight are given in Table 2. The correlations were high (r = .71 to .91), indicating that muscle and abdominal fat weight in Coturnix quail are highly correlated. These results support Sadjadi and Becker (1980) who obtained phenotypic correlations between these traits of .76 (males) and .57 (females) for 58-day-old quail. Regression coefficients of body and abdominal fat weight on time show that for every hour of feed withdrawal, body weight decreased .33 g and abdominal fat weight decreased .02 g. Body weight was affected more by feed withdrawal than was abdominal fat. Coturnix quail have a higher rate of metabolism than broiler chickens; therefore, the length of time to empty the intestinal tract would appear to be shorter.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on April 18, 2015
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
RESEARCH NOTE REFERENCES Bush, R. S., and R. R. Marquardt, 1978. Effects of age, sex and starvation on the turnover of plasma, liver and breast muscle proteins in the Japanese quail. J. Nutr. 108:296-300. Essary, E. O., and G. A. Schuler, 1981. Are we starving yield out of our broilers? Broiler Ind. (January). Hamm, D., and C.Y.W. Ang, 1982. Nutrient composi-
599
tion of quail meat from three sources. J. Food Sci. 47:1613-1614. Nir, I., N. Shapira, Y. Nitsan, and Y. Dror, 1974. Force-feeding effects on growth, carcass and blood composition in the young chick. Br. Poult. Sci. 32:229-239. Sadjadi, M., and W. A. Becker, 1980. Heritability and genetic correlations of body weight and surgically removed abdominal fat in Coturnix quail. Poultry Sci. 59:1977-1984.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Michigan on April 18, 2015