Meat of Guinea fowl. I. Effect of the fattening period on slaughter characteristics of a local Bulgarian population of Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris)

Matina Nikolova, Petya Veleva, Ivan Penchev

Abstract: The effect of the fattening period on the slaughter performance of a local Bulgarian population of
free-ranged pearl-gray Guinea fowls was studied. The pre-slaughter weight varied from 1041.00 to
1296.00 g in the group of female fowls and from 1029.50 to 1292.83 g in the group of male fowls, depending
on the fattening period duration. The data of grill weight were 605.15–839.81 g for the females
and 643.52–826.23 g for the male individuals and of bratfertig: 683.50–915.99 g and 721.82–910.52 g,
respectively, depending on gender and duration of the fattening period. Grill meat varied from 459.56
to 643.07 g for a group of male fowls and from 441.15 to 649.55 g for a group of female fowls, while
breast meat was 190.84–283.94 g (male) and 186.77–286.7 g (female), depending on the studied factors.
The slaughter yields (bratfertig, %) ranged from 65.72% to 70.71% depending on the two factors
of influence. The carcass weight (grill, %) of both sexes was 60.36% for the 16-week fattening period,
over 61% for the 20-week and 64% for the 24-week fattening period. The proportions of the pectoral
muscles in the carcass were higher for the older Guinea fowl, while the percentages of thigh muscles
decreased from 31% to 29% with increasing of the age. The relative values of breast and leg muscles
increased with the increase of the fattening period duration of the slaughtered birds. Grill’s bones had
the highest values in the 16-week-old Guinea fowls (29.09%). Besides sex, the slaughter age had a significant
effect on almost all the slaughter characteristics except for the weight of the by-products.

Keywords: bones; Guinea fowl; meat; meat cuts; slaughter characteristics

Date published: 2021-04-26