A STUDY OF UROPYGIAL GLAND REMOVAL EFFECTS AT TOW EARLY AGES ON FINAL WEIGHT, DRESSING RATIO, WEIGHT AND RELATIVE WEIGHT FOR SOME CARCASS MAIN CUTS, INTERNAL VISCERA OF ROSS BROILER CHICKENS

This study was conducted to find out some of the effects of surgically removing  the uropygial gland at the ages of (7 days and 14 days) on the final weight, dressing ratio and relative weight of the carcass parts and internal viscera of ross broiler, two hundred and fifty two,  one-day-old broiler birds were randomly distributed to 3 groups (84 birds per group) and each group had 3 replicates, the first group = control group(C) was left without uropygial gland resection, the second group (T1)  surgical resection of the uropygial gland at the  7 days age, the third group (T2) surgical resection of the uropygial gland at the  14 days age , four birds/replicate were randomly collected, i.e 12 birds per group, to reach 36 birds at the end of the study period (marketing age 42 days), and the live weight of the birds (individually final weight) was recorded, and then birds had slaughtered and cleaned , then the carcasses were weighed individually as well as the internal viscera (gizzard / heart / liver) then the carcasses had cut into parts for the purpose of calculating the weight and the relative weight of the carcass parts.
The results showed that the two groups T1 & T2 were superior  below the level of P<0.05 in the mean final live weight, mean weight of visceral-free carcass,  weight of thighs, chest, wings, neck and back, Also weight of internal viscera edible  (heart, liver ) compared to control group C , Also, the two groups T1 & T2 were significantly superior under the P<0.05 level in the relative weight of each of the visceral-free carcass,  the thighs, chest, and dressing ratio compared to the control group C, with a significant decrease for the two groups T1 & T2 under the P<0.05 level in the relative weight of each of the wings, neck and back compared to the C control group, and No significant differences under the P<0.05 level for the relative weight of the heart, liver compared to the C control group.
Results conclude that removing the uropygial gland at the age of (7 and 14 days), especially the removing of the uropygial gland at the age of 7 days, led to an improvement in the performance of birds in all the characteristics that were studied, which included (final live weight / dressing ratio / weight and relative weight of the main cuts and edible internal viscera) of the broiler chicken  birds ross .