ABSTRACT

Eighty four (84) broiler chickens were used to investigate the carcass characteristics and sensory evaluation of broiler chickens kept on skip-A-Day (SAD) feeding regime. The birds were allocated to four dietary treatment, each treatment was replicated three (3) times and each replicate had seven (7) birds in a completely randomized design. Treatment I (control) were placed on ad-libitum feeding, treatment 2 were placed on Skip-A-Day feed restriction for one week, treatment 3 placed on Skip-A-Day feeding restriction for two weeks, treatment 4 were placed on Skip-A-Day feed restriction for three weeks. Water was given ad libitum through the experiment. This experiment lasted for 56 days. For carcass characteristics, there were significant (P<O.05) differences among the treatment means for live weight, eviscerated weight, dressing percentage, fall cut parts, intestine and proventriculas. In this study, carcass characteristics were affected by Skip-A-Day, feed restriction methods. Birds placed on Skip-A-Day feeding region had significantly higher carcass characteristics values as against those placed on ad-libitum feeding and compares favourably with each other for all the parameters. Skip-A-Day feeding had effect on sensory evaluation with much emphasis on parameters such as juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability. This revealed that the panelists enjoyed meat of birds placed on control group, treatment 2 and treatment 3. From the above results, Skip-A-Day feeding regime increased carcass quality and yield. Sensory evaluation favoured birds placed on control group, treatment 2 and treatment 3.