Effects of floor material, stocking density and sex management on breast blister incidence and breast muscle composition of broilers

The orthogonal design with three factors and three levels was used in this experiment. Effects of floor material, density, and sex management group on the incidence of breast blisters and breast muscle composition were studied for 3～6 week-old AA broilers. The results showed that the incidence of breast blisters was the highest in the group of male broilers with wire netting floor, high stocking density (17.25 broilers/m²) and single male management compared with other groups(P<0.05). The incidence of breast blister was significantly higher in wire netting floor than that in plastic and bamboo netting floor(P<0.05), and higher in higher density than that in lower density(P<0.05). The floor material was the main environmental factor that affected the incidence of breast blisters of broilers, and sex management group had no significant effects(P>0.05). Breast muscle moisture content and crude protein content were the highest for the broilers in bamboo netting floor(P<0.05), and crude protein content was the lowest for the broilers in wire netting floor(P<0.05). The fat content was not affected by floor material, density and sex management. Therefore the present study shows that the incidence of breast blisters of broilers could be decreased and the breast muscle quality could be enhanced in the bamboo netting floor and plastic netting floor.