Effect of rearing system and gender on histological profile of chicken breast and leg muscles in hybrid (CobbxZk)

The experiment was conducted on 930 slow-growing chickens from the crossing of a Cobb male and Greenleg Partridge female. The chicks were randomly assigned to two groups: control (BW) which did not have access to a free run and the experimental group (W) using the grassy runs from 4 weeks of age. The experiment showed a statistical effect of sex on breast (P < 0.01) and leg (P < 0.05) muscle fiber diameter in CobbxZk hybrid roosters. There were no significant gender-dependent differences in the surface area of the muscles tested. No effect was either reported of the rearing system on the histological picture of breast and leg muscles.