TABLE 3.
Placement date, parent stock age, broiler age and average (AVG) bodyweight per hatch and number of birds processed and assessed for wooden breast myopathy per group in study 2 comparing commercial Ross 708 broilers and high generation Ross 708 broilers.
| Hatch1 | Chick placement date | Age of parent flocks (weeks)2 | Number of birds placed per group | Age of processing (days) | AVG Body weight (g) | Number of birds processed per group | |
| 1 (M+F) | 21st March | 38 | 600 | 55 | 4337 | 160 | |
| 2 (M+F) | 18th April | 41 | 640 | 62 | 4600 | 80 | |
| 3 (M+F) | 30th May | 48 | 480 | 62 | 4300 | 80 | |
| 4 (only M) | 11th July | HG 54 |
Com 39 |
150 | 55 | 4331 | 120 |
1Within each hatch there were an equal number of birds in each group of broiler line. In hatch 1, 2, and 3 there was an equal split of males and females placed. 2For hatches 1–3 the parent age was the same for both groups of broilers. In hatch 4 the parent ages were different for the high generation (HG) broiler and the current commercial (Com) broiler.