In vivo assessment of the quantity of breast muscle by sonography in broilers

Two experiments were conducted to estimate the amount and yield of breast meat in living chickens by sonography. Results from the first experiment showed that the use of some cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of the breast muscles (Pectoralis major and Pectoralis minor, PM) in combination with the body weight (BW) value could be used to predict breast muscle and yield. Values of the coefficient of determination (r2) were near 0.90 and 0.65 for the amount and yield of breast meat respectively. Accurate results were obtained by the combination of three chosen (among more than 40) CSAs of the PM muscle. In the second experiment, the use of the CSAs was limited to the three most explicative ones defined in the first experiment. This experiment was conducted with a larger number of animals and confirms that it is possible to predict in vivo the amount and yield of breast meat with a good accuracy in chickens.