LACK OF REPEATABILITY AMONG PERSONS USING THE ROCHE COLOR F A N TO ASSESS THE S H A N K COLOR OF BROILERS

ABSTRACT The Roche color fan, designed to numerically evaluate the pigment of egg yolks, is frequently used to assess the skin and shank pigments of broilers. Broilers grown on diets containing different sources and levels of carotenoid pigments were scored independently by three different persons using the yolk color fan. Low repeatability values and diet x scorer interactions indicate that the Roche yolk color fan does not effectively match skin or shank colors of broilers. POULTRY SCIENCE 53: 437-439, 1974 ALTHOUGH most nutritionists will agree that the amount of pigment in the skin of broilers has little or nothing to do with its nutritional value to the consumer, the fact remains that a requirement for adequate pig-mentation of carcasses constitutes an area of importance in poultry production. Because of the complexity of measuring visual color, various instruments and charts have bee