Table 2.
Body size and slaughter traits.
| Item | Group | SEM | p | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20 | T23 | T26 | T29 | |||
| Oblique body length (cm) | 32.7a | 31.9ab | 31.3ab | 30.7b | 0.3 | 0.032 |
| Keel length (cm) | 16.5a | 16.4a | 15.6b | 15.5b | 0.2 | 0.015 |
| Chest depth (cm) | 62.7 | 64.6 | 60.7 | 61.0 | 1.8 | 0.807 |
| Chest width (cm) | 63.9a | 59.2ab | 54.8b | 58.0b | 1.1 | 0.015 |
| Dorsal breadth (cm) | 103.5 | 103.5 | 100.9 | 106.1 | 2.2 | 0.877 |
| Pectoral muscle weight (g) | 446.5a | 453.0a | 464.2a | 345.3b | 13.9 | <0.01 |
| Pectoral muscle ratio (%) | 12.1 | 12.2 | 12.7 | 11.2 | 0.3 | 0.175 |
| Thigh muscle weight (g) | 335.6a | 341.8a | 315.4ab | 281.7b | 6.5 | <0.01 |
| Thigh muscle ratio (%) | 9.06 | 9.18 | 8.61 | 9.14 | 0.14 | 0.451 |
| Abdominal fat weight (g) | 19.1 | 21.3 | 24.4 | 19.1 | 1.1 | 0.281 |
| Abdominal fat ratio (%) | 0.52 | 0.57 | 0.66 | 0.62 | 0.03 | 0.294 |
| Liver weight (g) | 95.3a | 96.2a | 87.2a | 67.0b | 3.5 | <0.01 |
| Liver index | 2.57 | 2.58 | 2.38 | 2.14 | 0.08 | 0.138 |
| Spleen weight (g) | 3.12a | 2.94a | 2.73a | 1.99b | 0.13 | 0.01 |
| Spleen index | 8.45 | 7.86 | 7.49 | 6.40 | 0.00 | 0.143 |
a,b,cMeans with different superscripts within the same row differ significantly (p < 0.05). No letter indicates that the differences are not significant (p > 0.05). Results are means with n = 9 per treatment.