Comparison of Abdominal Region Components with Abdominal Fat in Broiler Chickens

At cloacal depth of 35 mm, caliper measurements were made between the cloaca and abdominal surface on left and right sides of 51 males and 69 females at 50 days of age. Broilers were weighed, killed, and frozen intact the following day. After thawing and dissection, abdominal skin thickness, leaf fat thickness, and leaf and gizzard fat weights were obtained. For the following, male data are presented first and female data second. Mean abdominal skin thickness was 2.02 mm for both sexes, and leaf fat thickness was 3.09 and 4.14 mm. Mean abdominal thickness measurements on live broilers were 4.30 and 5.35 mm. Correlation coefficients between abdominal fat weight and abdominal skin thickness were .46 and .05, leaf fat thickness .66 and .61, and abdominal thickness .62 and .50. Correlations between percentage abdominal fat of live weight and abdominal skin thickness were .37 and −.01, leaf fat thickness .64 for both sexes, and abdominal thickness .63 and .54. Correlations of abdominal thickness with leaf fat thickness were .65 and .45. These correlation coefficients indicate that measuring thickness of the abdominal region does measure the thickness of leaf fat in prediction of abdominal fat in male and female broilers.