Have you ever seen green meat in broilers? This is a very unpleasant sight...
Green meat in broiler chickens is the result of pathology. This phenomenon was first described by Americans who were raising chicken in Oregon.
Below are the details and causes of the origin of this disease.
Green muscle disease is associated with a rapid increase in the weight of the bird and a simultaneous lag in the development of connective tissues in the thoracic region
Russian scientists believe that the pathology is caused by ischemia of the pectoral muscles, which occurs due to insufficient blood supply, leading to a lack of oxygen, vitamins, and minerals in the tissues. In severe forms of the pathology, dystrophy, atrophy, and necrosis are observed.
Is green chicken meat dangerous?
All modern factories pursue one single goal - maximum weight gain of poultry in the shortest possible time. Selection opportunities have caused the so-called hypertrophy, which affects the pectoral muscles of the broiler. This disease generally affects other muscle groups and bones. Muscle hypertrophy significantly limits the bird's mobility.
“Oregon disease” is often accompanied by limb weakness, cellulite, and white muscle pathology. The latter occurs due to a lack of selenium in the diet, metabolic disorders in cells
Why do broilers have green meat? Large-scale necrosis gives the meat this color. This pathology mainly affects broiler turkeys.
The following pathologies were also observed: pallor and swelling of the deep muscles of the sternum, thinning of the fascia, necrotic changes in the areas of edema.
Most often, green breasts are observed in males, due to greater muscle mass than in females. If such poultry meat ends up in catering establishments or stores, it is discarded.
Content
Bank chickens are considered more decorative. They are easy to tame, and keeping a jungle bank fowl at home is not considered very difficult. This breed needs large enclosures, as they will feel uncomfortable in a small one. The space is measured based on 2-4 sq.m. per chicken. chicken coop. In a small territory they will be able to get along if there is only a male there, since two or more will constantly fight for a small territory.
In order for the chickens to be able to fly, the height of the pen must be at least 4-5 meters, and it is better to cover the top with a net.
If it is not possible to make such an enclosure, it is recommended to trim the feathers for the safety of the chickens.
In the enclosure you need to come up with a place for the chickens to sleep. It is best if it is a tree, at least a small one. This breed takes a very long time to get used to a regular roost. It is also necessary to make a covered room for the chickens.
Signs of pathology
47-day-old chickens with green areas have the following signs of pathology:
- Loose muscle consistency;
- Strongly elongated muscle shape;
- Gray-yellow color with greenery around the edges;
- Foci of hemorrhage between healthy and pathologically changed muscles.
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All these disorders indicate acute necrosis that occurs against the background of an inflammatory process. Scientists made a conclusion about the traumatic nature of the disease after discovering iron-containing pigments that can be formed during the breakdown of red blood cells.
Temperature
The jungle breed is thermophilic and usually lives in hot countries, so they need to be provided with the same conditions. If it is very hot in the summer, you need to make shaded places in the pen where you can hide from the scorching sun. You can make a small font for adult chickens.
In winter, you need to take care of keeping your chickens' homes warm. In winter, chickens are not allowed outside, but are kept in a warm and dry room, where the temperature is kept between 25-28 degrees. Don’t forget about space and lighting, as well as sleeping perches. The floor is covered with coarse sand with fine gravel, straw and hay, as in the video.
Nutrition
In captivity, the gray junglefowl eats grains, seeds and greens well.
You can also pamper your chickens with earthworms and slugs, snails and caterpillars. Don't forget about vitamins, calcium and minerals. Ready-made premixes are best suited for this. You should always make sure that there is enough fine gravel in the enclosure, which chickens need for proper digestion.
Incubation
In the first year of nesting, young animals can lay up to 5 fertile eggs, and in subsequent years up to 10. Most often, a hen lays an unpaired number of eggs, since they fit more conveniently under her. Chicks hatch after 20 days. First, the chicken pecks a small hole in the shell and gets used to oxygen, and after a few hours it comes out of the egg and can immediately walk and feed itself.
Prevention of green meat in poultry farms
Pathology occurs during the growth period of chickens, usually at the final fattening stage. The disease is caused by metabolic disorders in birds. It has been established that “green muscle” disease is most often detected in chickens that were obtained from chickens fed with inferior feed - with a small amount of selenium and other vital antioxidants.
In order to prevent “Oregon disease”, poultry factories and private poultry farms use drugs containing high doses of selenium and vitamin E. They are added to the water that chickens drink from the first days of life.
Can I eat green meat? This is quite acceptable - the color does not in any way affect the taste of the product, but it does affect the appearance, which many will find unpleasant. Thus, the question of why broilers have green meat can be considered closed.
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Story
The Ceylon jungle fowl was first domesticated in Asia 5 thousand years BC. Then they began to be bred in India. Darwin even put forward the theory that it was from this breed that many other domestic species of chickens were bred, many of which still exist today and are very reminiscent of the jungle fowl, as in the photo. There are several types of junglefowl: there are green, gray, red and Indian chickens.
Jungle chickens
Variety of jungle fowl
The group of jungle fowls has been divided into 4 subspecies of birds:
- green – Gallus Varaus (lat.);
- gray – Gallus Sonnerati (lat.);
- red – Gallus gallus (lat.);
- Ceylon – Gallus lafayetti (lat.)
Red bank chickens also have their own division:
- Indian - live in Nepal, India, Bangladesh;
- Burmese - live in Sumatra, Malaysia, Myanmar;
- Tokinese - common in China (a number of provinces) and Vietnam;
- Indo-Chinese - found in Thailand, Indochina;
- Bank jungle fowl are the most numerous and widespread.
Links[edit]
- BirdLife International (2012). "Gall varius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
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2012
. Retrieved November 26, 2013. Old form URL - ^ a b c d Laval, RA; and others. (2020). "Genome of a wild species of domestic chicken". BMC Biology
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18
(13): 13. DOI: 10.1186/s12915-020-0738-1. PMC 7014787. PMID 32050971. - Tiley, G.P.; Pandey, A.; Kimball, R. T.; Brown, E. L.; Burley, J. G. (2020). "Genome-wide phylogeny of Gallus: introgression and data type effects". Avian Research
.
11
(7). doi:10.1186/s40657-020-00194-w.
Appearance
Small bird. The length of the male is 66 cm, weight 900-1250 g; the female’s weight is 500-750 g. The male’s color is reddish-golden on the dorsal side, blackish-brown on the ventral side. The feathers on the head, neck, back of the head and on the upper side of the tail are golden yellow. The back is purple-brown, the chest and tail feathers are black-green, the wings are brown. The comb on the head is red, the beak is brownish. Legs slate black. The female is smaller than the male, has a shorter tail and is distinguished by a less bright, brownish color: her neck feathers are black with yellow edges, the underside of the body is dirty brown with lighter spots on the feather shafts, the back is brownish-gray.
The instinct of wild ancestors and domestic chickens
The massive use of chickens as a source of eggs and meat became possible due to the organization of the flock and the peculiarities of nesting behavior.
The domestic chicken retains the following instincts, which once helped domesticate the wild birds of South Asia:
Pack organization
When chickens reach the stage of changing from down to feathers, they develop secondary sexual characteristics. After a couple of months, the cockerels begin to have fights, as a result of which the dominant individual is determined. This allows people to use "extra" roosters for meat.
The breeder and keeper will be one rooster per ten hens. But as a result of natural selection, the most aggressive rooster remains, which people do not always like. Often the most pugnacious rooster is sent for meat, which defends its harem from people. All that remains is to “lead” the harem by a rooster of moderate mood.
Lack of migration instinct
There is enough food in the jungle all year round, so there is no point in wild chickens flying to other lands. The lack of desire to change places creates the stability of the flock, as a result of which the chickens, even with wild grazing in the yard and on the street, do not go far from the chicken coop.
Sophisticated voice control system for flock and chicks
She once helped keep chickens at the “self-government” level. A person only needs to take a closer look, and most importantly, listen to what the chickens are doing in order to understand which individuals will conscientiously breed chickens and which are incapable of such complex behavior.
Vocal data of roosters
Morning crowing has become an element of the culture of many peoples, which is captured in fairy tales and legends. The crow of a rooster drives away evil spirits and announces the sunrise. For chickens, this signal is like the sound of a bugle that gathers soldiers into formation.
After the rooster crows in the morning, the flock must not only wake up: the chickens must gather around their vociferous leader. Roosters with a good voice could gather many hens around them, which contributed to the transmission of vocal genes from generation to generation.
Hatchery breeding of chickens leads to the degeneration of their instinctive base. For this reason, new breeds are not formed in cage conditions.
Preservation of the instincts of wild ancestors is an indicator of the integrity of the genome of domestic chicken, which is a condition for good health and resistance to environmental influences.
How does reproduction occur in nature?
Males reach sexual maturity by the fifth month of life; in females, maturation occurs somewhat later - in the seventh month.
Roosters begin to create their own flocks by the age of one year, from this time period they can already be considered adults. Laying hens lay fertilized eggs from 10-11 months, and they retain this ability for three years.
Breeding time occurs between March and May, when the dry season sets in in the jungle. During the courtship process, the rooster shows his chosen ones (there may be several of them) elegant and colorful plumage.
Bank chickens
The birds are polygamous, and during breeding, one male will form a small harem consisting of 3-5 females; he will mate with them throughout the current nesting period.
Nests are constructed in small earthen holes, the bottom of which is lined with grasses and fallen leaves. A clutch may contain about 9 eggs with white shells. Only the hen participates in incubation, and the rooster is entrusted with the role of guarding the nests from the attacks of others.
