Effect of Sex on Some Economic Traits in Poultry

Abstract:
This study used 300 birds from the COBB breed, consisting of 150 males and 150 females. These birds were randomly selected from a farm in the Ain Zara area of Tripoli, raised under a floor rearing system. All birds were kept under the same natural conditions. Birds were weighed before and after slaughtering to estimate the desired economic traits.

The averages of the following traits were determined: dressing percentage, length and width of the breast, weight of the breast muscle and thigh, ratio of breast to live weight, ratio of breast to slaughter weight, ratio of thigh to live weight, and ratio of thigh to slaughter weight.

The results showed no significant effect of sex (P > 0.05) on dressing percentage, breast length and width in the carcass, nor on the ratio of thigh to slaughter weight. However, sex had a significant effect (P ≤ 0.05) on thigh muscle weight, while no significant effect (P > 0.05) was observed on the other studied traits