J. Env. Bio-Sci., 2015: Vol.

29 (2):487-491
(487) ISSN 0973-6913 (Print), ISSN 0976-3384 (On Line)

INFLUENCE OF STRAIN, AGE AND SEX ON THE CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS

OF TURKEYS
D. Santhi*, A.Kalaikannan and A.Sundaresan1
Department of Livestock Products Technology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, Chennai, India.
1
Directorate of Centre for Animal Production Studies, TANUVAS, Chennai.
Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University
[Corresponding author E-mail*: drdshanthi@tanuvas.org.in]

Received: 20-07-2015 Revised: 04-08-2015 Accepted: 22-09-2015

A 24 weeks experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of strain, age and sex on the carcass characteristics of three strains
of turkeys namely Beltsville small white (BSW), Desi and Nandanam turkey I (NTI) (a strain developed by Tamilnadu Veterinary and
Animal Sciences University, Chennai, India). The experimental design was a completely randomized with three treatments (strains)
and three replicates. At the end of 16th, 20th and 24thweek of age, two birds (one male and one female) from each replicates were
slaughtered. The percent eviscerated weight (EWP) and ready to cook weight (RTCWP -eviscerated weight with giblet weight) was
significantly lower at 16th week of age than 20th and 24th week of age regardless of strain and sex. Breast weight percent was
significantly higher at 20 weeks of age, thigh weight percent at 16 and 20 weeks of age, drumstick weight percent at 16 weeks of
age and back and neck weight percent at 24th week of age. There was no significant difference in wings weight percent between
the age groups. BSW had the highest percent eviscerated and ready to cook weight among the strains. There was no significant
difference between percent eviscerated and ready to cook weight between the sexes. In cut up parts percent there was significant
difference neither between the strains nor the sexes. Feed consumed per kilogram of dressed weight was appreciably lower in
BSW. Sensory evaluation revealed that the overall acceptability of meat from 16th week age bird was significantly higher regardless
of the sex and strain. It is concluded that BSW turkeys are economical than the other two strains if provided with optimum nutrition
and management. In general, 16th week of age would be optimal for slaughtering of turkeys which proves to be economical and
also preferred by the consumer.

In India poultry products have a very good market throughout structured due to established rearing systems. But those
the year. Though there is consumption of various types of management methods will not be suitable for Indian turkey
poultry meats, broiler chicken overhaul other meats such as breeds and the climatic conditions and therefore cannot be
desi chicken, turkey, Japanese quail, guinea fowl, etc. No other followed as such. Hence production strategies suitable for the
poultry farming has been commercially as successful as broiler Indian climatic conditions and the turkey breeds commonly
industry. Turkey farming is one of the profitable sectors which reared here need to be developed.
has the future market for successful commercialization. Turkey
Strain, sex and age are known to have large effects on
rearing has been taken up only by small scale and medium
components of the turkey carcass and it is important to
scale farmers and commercial venture is only negligible. There
quantify these variants for economic planning purposes and
are various reasons for this dormancy state of turkey industry.
aid in strain improvement programme1. In India, marketing,
One of the important reasons is lack of basic research in the
weight and age for the turkeys has not been optimized and
area of turkey growth and production. Due to the paucity of
also the price of turkey meat is almost uniform regardless of
necessary information about the production performance and
the strain, sex and age which results in great loss. The
optimum marketing age and weight of either sex, farmers could
objectives of this experiment were to study the carcass and
not make profit and at times even incur loss in turkey farming
offal yields, feed consumed per kilogram of dressed weight
practice. Since turkey meat serves as one of the alternative
and organoleptic properties of the meat of three strains of
for consumers who prefer variety meats in poultry other than
turkeys viz Beltsville small white (BSW), desi and Nandanam
broilers, the market could be enhanced by improved farming
Turkey I (NTI, a variety evolved at this institute) as influenced
practices. In western countries, turkey industry is well
by strain, age and sex. Attempts were made to assess the
NAAS Rating (2016)-4.20

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 INFLUENCE OF STRAIN, AGE AND SEX ON THE CARCASS
most economical and appropriate marketing age based on
meat production performance and sensory evaluation.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted at Poultry Research Station,
Chennai a unit of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences
University. Two hundred and seventy straight run day old turkey
poults were used in this experiment, 90 poults from each strain
viz. BSW, desi and NTI. The experimental design was
completely randomized with three treatments. The poults from
each strain (treatment) were selected, wing banded and
randomly allocated to three replicates with ten poults each.
The experiment was conducted in brooder house with raised
single tier cages from 0 to 8 weeks of age. At the end of 8th
week, the birds were shifted to deep litter pens with paddy
husk litter. In the beginning of the experiment, on first day of
hatching, all the poults were individually weighed and allotted
to cages so that each cage of poults had similar initial mean
body weight. Subsequently, individual body weights of the birds
of all the treatments were recorded at the end of 2nd, 4th, 6th,
8th, 12th, 16th, 20th and 24th week of age. All the birds were fed
with the same feed in mash form which was formulated and
prepared by Central Feed Technology Unit of this institute.
The prebrooder ration was fed from 0 to 4 weeks of age, brooder
ration from 5 to 8 weeks and grower ration from 9 to 24 weeks.
Feed and water were provided ad libitum. The compositions of
the experimental diets are presented in Table-1.
At the end of 16th, 20th and 24th week of age, two birds (one
male and one female) from each replicate were slaughtered.
The birds were deprived of feed approximately 12h before
slaughter, while water was given ad libitum. The birds were
slaughtered at the poultry processing unit of this institute.
The birds were slaughtered, defeathered and eviscerated
manually following standard procedures. Hot carcass weights
were recorded immediately after slaughter. The hot carcasses
were cut up into components. The weight of the cut up parts,
blood, feathers, head, shank, liver, heart, gizzard, spleen and
kidneys were recorded. Carcass yield, head, shank and other
organs were expressed as percent slaughter weight and cut
up parts were expressed as percentage of hot carcass weight
(eviscerated weight without giblets). The meat bone ratio of
breast, thighs and drumsticks were calculated.
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(488)
The cooked meat samples were evaluated for appearance,
flavour, juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability using a
nine-point hedonic scale to study the influence of carcass age
on sensory attributes of turkey meat irrespective of the strain
and sex. The meat production performance was studied by
calculating the feed consumed per kilogram dressed weight
(dressed weight feed efficiency) at 16th, 20th and 24th week of
age. The statistical analyses were done as per the methods2.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Carcass characteristics: The carcass characteristics of the
turkeys are presented in the Table-2. The eviscerated weight
percent (EWP) and ready-to-cook weight percent (RTCWP)
were significantly (P  0.05) higher in BSW, whereas, there
was no significant difference between the other two strains.
The cut up parts percentage and meat bone ratio of breast,
thigh and drumsticks did not differ significantly among the
strains.
The EWP and RTCWP were significantly (P  0.01) low at 16th
week of age when compared to 20th and 24th week, while there
was no significant difference between the latter two age groups.
Previous researches showed that the dressing yield increased
with age and hence more weight was being put down as
saleable portion3-4. Some workers analysed the age effect on
tom turkeys by using serial slaughter from 15 to 26 weeks of
age6. They found that as age advances, although weight of all
parts increased, changes in percentage of yields of the parts
showed different patterns. As reported earlier total carcass
weight did not reflect the distribution of the component weight
at various ages6-7. At 24th week of age, except the back and
neck yield which was significantly (P  0.01) higher, all the
other cuts' yields were lower. As observed earlier between 16th
and 20th weeks of age, breast percentage and drumstick
percentage were significantly (P  0.01) higher at 20 weeks
and 16 weeks respectively9. Some workers stated that the
age effects were obviously not linear and in turkeys, the late,
but rapid development of the breast muscles make dramatic
changes in the proportions of the carcass components. Meat
bone ratio of breast, thigh and drumsticks did not differ
significantly among the age groups9.
The cut up parts yield percent were not influenced by sex
though it had been reported that males are more efficient
 (489) SANTHI, KALAIKANNAN AND SUNDARESAN

Table-1. Composition and proximate principles of the basal diets.

Table-2. Effect of strain, age and sex on the carcass yields of the turkeys.
Carcass traits % Meat bone Ratio

Treatments Eviscerated Ready to

Breast 1 Thigh 1 Drumstick 1 Wings 1 Back & Neck 1 Breast Thigh Drumstick
weight cook weight

Strain

BSW 71.48 a 75.67a 29.64 15.25 14.73 15.55 24.14 3.40 4.61 2.64

Desi 69.39 b 73.80b 28.89 15.14 14.75 15.85 25.01 3.36 4.57 2.69

NTI 69.54 b 74.10b 29.15 15.14 14.83 16.07 24.24 3.27 4.51 2.81

Age

16 weeks 68.18 b 73.10b 29.03b 15.65a 15.39a 15.91 22.07b 3.34 4.44 2.56

20 weeks 70.95 a 75.14a 30.57a 15.47a 14.77b 16.10 23.43b 3.19 4.87 2.78

24 weeks 71.28 a 75.34a 28.09b 14.41b 14.15c 15.48 27.89a 3.50 4.37 2.80

Sex

Male 70.58 74.70 28.92 15.03 14.82 16.09 24.70 3.27 4.18b 2.43b

Female 69.69 74.35 29.54 15.32 14.72 15.56 24.23 3.42 4.94a 2.99a

Pooled SEM2 0.35 0.31 0.32 0.12 0.12 0.15 0.45 0.08 0.11 0.06

Sources of variation Significance of treatment effect3

Strain * * NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

Age ** ** ** ** ** NS ** NS NS NS

Sex NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS ** **
1
Calculated as percent eviscerated weight. 2Standard error of the mean. 3Significance of treatment effect: NS = not significant;
*P  0.05; **P  0.01.

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 INFLUENCE OF STRAIN, AGE AND SEX ON THE CARCASS (490)

Table-3. Effect of strain, age and sex on the edible and inedible offal yields of the turkeys.
Blood1 Feather1 Head1 Shank1 Liver1 Heart1 Gizzard1 Spleen1 Kidneys1

Strain

BSW 2.69 7.27 2.45 3.60 1.55 0.41 2.21 0.05 0.38

Desi 2.90 7.55 2.59 3.48 1.60 0.44 2.36 0.07 0.34

NTI 2.99 7.55 2.49 3.48 1.48 0.43 2.37 0.06 0.41

Age

16 weeks 3.47 7.92 2.59 3.91 1.83 0.42 2.44 0.07 0.42

20 weeks 2.18 7.79 2.49 3.47 1.40 0.43 2.27 0.06 0.36

24 weeks 2.92 6.66 2.45 3.18 1.40 0.43 2.23 0.06 0.35

Sex

Male 2.67 7.39 2.51 3.78a 1.46b 0.41 2.09b 0.06 0.38

Female 3.04 7.53 2.5 3.26b 1.62a 0.44 2.54a 0.07 0.37

Pooled SEM2 0.15 0.14 0.04 0.07 0.04 0.01 0.05 0.004 0.01

Sources of variation Significance of treatment effect3

Strain NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

Age ** ** NS ** ** NS NS NS *

Sex NS NS NS ** * NS ** NS NS

1
Calculated as percent live weight. 2 Standard error of the mean. 3 Significance of treatment effect: NS = not significant;
*P  0.05; **P  0.01.
Table-4. Effect of age on sensory attributes of turkey meat.

1
Standard error of the mean. 2Significance of treatment effect: **P  0.01.

producers of meat and fat at higher body weights than females 7.
This difference may be attributed to the larger differences in
body weight between the strains of similar age groups used in
the present and previous studies. The meat bone ratio of thigh
and drumsticks were significantly (P  0.01) higher in females
whereas that of breast did not differ significantly.
Edible and inedible offals: Some workers reported that the
weight of the blood, feathers and heart were related to body
weight in a positive linear manner7. But in our study, the blood
weight percentage decreased from 16 to 20 weeks (Table-3)
and thereafter increased at 24th week of age. The percentage
of feather weight, shank, liver and kidneys showed a decreasing
trend with increase in age. There was no significant difference
in percentage of blood and feather weight and other inedible
components among the strains. The percent shank weight
was significantly (P  0.01) higher in males as reported7.
Females had significantly higher percentage of liver and gizzard
(P  0.01).
Sensory Attributes: Meat from 16th week age carcasses
significantly (P  0.01) scored higher with respect to flavour,,

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 (491) SANTHI, KALAIKANNAN AND SUNDARESAN

Table-5. Feed consumed (kg) per kg of dressed weight in turkeys.

juiciness and tenderness attributes (Table-4) followed by 20th 3. Wesley, R. D., Adams, R. L. and Stadelman, W. J. (1981). Poult.
and 24th week age carcasses. Both 16th and 20th week age Sci., 60: 1422.
carcass meat had significantly (P  0.01) pleasing appearance 4. Hester, P.Y., Peng, I.C., Adams, R.L., Furumoto, E.J., Larsen,

and overall acceptability. This indicates that the consumer
preference decreases with the increase in carcass age.
Meat Production Performance: Dressed weight feed
efficiency (DWFE) was better in BSW (Table-5) which was in
accordance with the results of earlier workers who stated that
J.E., Klingensmith, P. M., Pike, O. A. and Stadelman, W. J. (1986).
Briti. Poult. Sci., 27: 63.
5. Peng, I.C., Adams, R.L., Furumoto, E.J., Hester, P.Y., Larsen,
J.E., Pike, O.A. and Stadelman, W.J. (1985). Poult. Sci., 64: 871.
6. Larsen, J. E., Adams, R. L., Peng, I. C. and Stadelman, W. J.
(1986) Poult. Sci., 65:2076.

feed conversion ratio was better in Beltsville small white
turkeys10. Feed consumed per kilogram of dressed weight was
minimal at 16th week of age and increased with age in spite of
the dressing percentage being higher at 20 and 24 weeks of
age. Males had better DWFE than females.
In conclusion, comparison of the performances of the BSW,
7. Brake, J., Havenstein, G.B., Ferket, P.R., Rives, D.V. and
Giesbrecht, F.G. (1995). Poult. Sci., 74: 161.
8. Roberson, K. D., Rahn, A. P., Balander, R. J., Orth, M. W., Smith,
D. M., Booren, B. L., Booren, A. M., Osburn, W. N. and Fulton, R.
M. (2003). Journ. App.Poult. Res., 12: 229.
9. Roberson, K.D., Kalbfleisch, J.L. and Dransfield, D. (2004).
Internat.Journ. Poult. Sci., 3: 791.

desi and NTI turkeys indicated that the meat production 10. Santhi, D., Sundaresan, A., Kalaikannan, A., Thyagarajan, D.
and Prabakaran, R. (2014). Indian Vet. Journ., 91(2):43.
performance was better in BSW. It is recommended that the
optimum marketing age for turkeys would be around 16 weeks
of age which could be justified by better dressed weight feed
efficiency and sensory evaluation scores.

REFERENCES

1. Clayton, G. A., Nixey, C. and Monaghan, G. (1978). Briti. Poult.

Sci., 19: 755.
2. Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G. (1994). In: Statistical Methods
(The Iowa State University Press, Iowa).

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