Efeito do período de jejum pré-abate sobre o rendimento de carcaça de frango de corte Effect of pre-laughter fasting periods on the carcass yielding of commercial broilers

Avaliaram-se os efeitos de cinco períodos (quatro, oito, 12, 14 e 16 horas) de jejum pré-abate sobre a perda de peso e rendimento de carcaça e cortes de frangos de corte. Foram utilizados 240 frangos (120 machos e 120 fêmeas), linhagem Cobb, criados até 44 dias de idade. No 44º dia, as aves foram separadas de acordo com o período de jejum (tratamentos) e o sexo, cada tratamento com 24 repetições. Nos tratamentos de quatro, oito, 12 e 16 horas, o jejum foi alimentar e no tratamento de 14 horas, o jejum foi alimentar e hídrico. O teste utilizado para as análises das médias foi o SNK (Student-Newman-Keuls). Foram analisadas as seguintes variáveis: perda de peso vivo após o jejum, taxa de absorção de água pela carcaça, rendimentos da carcaça inteira e dos cortes comerciais coxa e sobrecoxa, peito, dorso, asa, pés e cabeça e pescoço, rendimentos da moela e fígado e peso dos intestinos. Os períodos de jejum de oito, 12, 14, e 16 horas apresentaram maior rendimento de carcaça, sendo superiores ao período de quatro horas de jejum (P0,05). As fêmeas absorveram mais água do que os machos, e apresentaram rendimentos de carcaça e cortes comerciais superiores aos dos machos (PThis experiment was designed in order to evaluate the effect of five intervals of pre-slaughter fasting (four, eight, 12, 14 and 16 hours) on weight loss, carcass yielding and poultry cuts yielding of broiler chickens. A total of 120 males and 120 females broiler chickens of Cobb lineage were raised during 44 days. On the 44th day, chickens were grouped according to their fasting period (treatments) and gender. Each treatment was composed of 24 repetitions. Animals of the of four, eight, 12 and 16 hours treatments were not fed ration while animals of the 14 hours fasting treatment were not fed ration or water. The statistical test used for mean comparison was SNK (Student-Newman-Keuls). The following variables were analyzed: loss of live weight, rate of water absorbed by carcass; whole carcass and commercial cuts (legs and forelegs, chest, dorsum, wings, feet and head and neck) yielding; gizzard and liver yielding as well as intestinal weight. The fasting periods of eight 12, 14 and 16 hours showed greater carcass yielding (P0.05). Females retained more water than males and showed higher carcass and commercial cuts yielding than males (P