Morphometric and chemical parameters of hen carcasses of ‘Smena 9’ cross raised under different conditions

Changes in live weight, morphology of carcasses, their morphometric parameters, chemical composition of muscles during cage rising (group 1) and ground-grazing raising (group 2) were studied in hens (‘Smena 9’ cross) at the age of 1, 35, 42, 49 and 56 days. Generally accepted research methods were used. The hens were raised under the same conditions. The experiments revealed that chickens had a high growth rate at an early age. At 56-day age, live weight of hen from group 1 was 3438 g, which was 2.69 % less than in group 2, and carcass weight was 2.89 % less (P < 0.05). In carcasses of broilers from group 2, weight of muscle tissue was 3.14 % more (P > 0.05), however, fat and bones were less by 0.22 and 0.09 %, respectively. Compared to 1-day-old chickens, 56-day-old broilers had increased relative weight: muscle tissue in group 1 and group 2 - by 13.04 and 13.27 %, respectively; fat - by 4.02 and 3.80 %, respectively; while relative bone weight decreased by 16.25 and 16.34 % in group 1 and group 2, respectively. Ground-grazing raising of chickens is not inferior in meat productivity to cage rising. At the same time, veterinary and sanitary indicators differ in the quality of meat.