Effect of sex upon the carcass yield, processing loss and proportion of carcass parts of local adult guinea fowl (Numida meleagris)

Abstract

Eight males and Twelve females of local guinea fowl one year of age have been chosen at random to study the effect of sex upon carcass characteristics, percentage of processing loss and the percentage of the internal edible and non edible organs. There was a significant increase (P≤ 0.05) in carcass yield of the males over females. Although not significant, the percentage of abdominal fat was more in female than in male. Among the weight of the breast, thigh and wings, only the weight of the thigh was significant (P≤ 0.01) heavier in males than in females. The calculated weights of the reproductive organs were higher in females than those of males. The percentage of the weights of blood, feathers and head were significantly (P≤ 0.01, P≤ 0.05) higher in males in comparison with these of females. There was a calculated increase in the weight of legs of females over the males. It was concluded that there were a significant increase in the traits of males over the females such as carcass yield, weight of thigh, blood, feather, head, heart and spleen. At the mean time, the weights of liver were significantly heavier in females than in males