Effects of dietary energy and protein levels on growth performance,slaughtering performance and meat quality of Dagu chickens

Liu Zhengyu; Li Xiaohan; Zhang Baogang; Wang Tao; Wang Jie; Zhu Hongyan; Tian Yumin; Su Yuhong

doi:10.20154/j.cnki.issn1672-9692.2025.08.008

Abstract：In order to investigate the effects of different energy and protein level feeds on the growth performance,slaughtering performance and meat quality of Dagu roosters,the same batch of caged Dagu rooster chicks obtained from hatching were randomly divided into three treatment groups according to feeding different energy-protein level feeds.Each group had three replicates,each replicate with 10 chicks.Each treatment group was fed with commercial chick feed until six week.Group A was fed a diet with high energy and protein levels both before and after fattening.Group B was fed a low energy and protein diet in the early fattening stage and a high energy and low protein diet in the later stage.Group C was the control group and was fed with low energy and protein diets both before and after fattening.The results showed that at the end of 12 weeks of age,the body weight of Dagu roosters in Group A was significantly higher than that in Group C(P<0.05).At the end of 20 weeks of age,the body weight of Dagu roosters in Group A was extremely higher than that in Group C(P<0.01).During the experiment,there were no significant differences in the average daily weight gain and average daily feed intake among the groups of Dagu roosters(P>0.05).In the early stage of fattening,the feed conversion ratio of Dagu roosters in Group A was significantly lower than that in Group C(P<0.05).During the fattening period,the survival rate of Dagu roosters in Groups A and B was significantly lower than that in Group C(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the total clean body rate,wing rate,leg muscle rate,pectoral muscle rate and subcutaneous fat thickness among the groups of Dagu roosters(P>0.05).The semi-clean rate of Dagu roosters in Group B was significantly lower than that in Group C(P<0.05),while the abdominal fat rate and subcutaneous fat width of Dagu roosters in Groups A and B were extremely higher than those in Group C(P<0.01).The slaughter rate of Dagu roosters in Group A was significantly lower than that in Groups B and C(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the color of pectoral and leg muscles,shear force,drip loss rate,and pH value among the groups of Dagu roosters(P>0.05).The results of this study showed that high energy and protein level feeds increased the weight gain performance of Dagu roosters,but the body fat rate was high and the survival rate was low,low energy and low protein level feeds decreased the weight gain performance,but the body fat rate was low and the survival rate was high.The energy and protein levels of feeds had less effect on meat quality of Dagu roosters.The results of this study provide a reference for the feeding management of Dagu chicken fattening.