Richardson N T, Jahnel R E, Makanjuola B O, Bai X, Barbut S, Ellis J L, Baes C F, Leishman E M
Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Hybrid Turkeys, Kitchener, ON, Canada.
Poult Sci. 2025 Aug 8;104(11):105634. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2025.105634.
Late-stage mortality is a significant challenge for the poultry industry, leading to substantial economic losses, concerns about animal welfare, and operational sustainability. Heart-related conditions, including ascites syndrome, pulmonary hypertension syndrome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and sudden death syndrome, contribute significantly to this issue. The increasing prevalence of these conditions is potentially linked to intense selection pressure aimed at maximizing meat yield, particularly breast meat. However, the precise relationship between meat yield, heart size and cardiovascular health remains unclear. To address this, a systematic literature review and meta-analysis were conducted to explore the relationship between breast meat yield and organ size (heart, lungs, liver), in which 91 publications meeting specific inclusion criteria were identified. Data extracted included variables such as live weight, portion yields (breast, leg, wing), organ weights (heart, lungs, liver), and the prevalence of heart-related conditions (pulmonary hypertension syndrome, ascites syndrome). A backward selection modeling approach was used to develop linear mixed models, treating the study as a random effect, to examine the relationship between organ weights as a percentage of body weight (% BW), meat yield and other animal attributes. The best heart weight model (% BW) included the effects of sex, species (chicken or turkey), bird purpose (meat or egg), breast meat yield (%), and live weight (g). The best liver weight model (% BW) included species, bird purpose, breast meat yield (%), and live weight (g). The best lung weight (% BW) model included heart weight (g). Model performance was evaluated using residuals analysis, root mean squared prediction error, and the concordance correlation coefficient. Findings suggest that laying hens have larger hearts relative to body weight compared to broiler chickens and turkeys. The liver and lung models revealed that broiler chickens had larger livers (% BW) compared to laying hens, and that lung weight (% BW) was negatively correlated to heart weight (g). These results highlight the potential need to consider organ health in breeding programs focused on meat yield.
晚期死亡率对家禽业来说是一项重大挑战，会导致巨大的经济损失、动物福利问题以及运营的可持续性问题。与心脏相关的病症，包括腹水综合征、肺动脉高压综合征、肥厚性心肌病和猝死综合征，是造成这一问题的重要因素。这些病症患病率的上升可能与旨在最大化产肉量，尤其是胸肉产量的高强度选择压力有关。然而，产肉量、心脏大小与心血管健康之间的确切关系仍不明确。为解决这一问题，我们进行了一项系统的文献综述和荟萃分析，以探究胸肉产量与器官大小（心脏、肺、肝脏）之间的关系，共确定了91篇符合特定纳入标准的出版物。提取的数据包括活重、各部分产量（胸肉、腿肉、翅肉）、器官重量（心脏、肺、肝脏）以及与心脏相关病症（肺动脉高压综合征、腹水综合征）的患病率等变量。采用向后选择建模方法来建立线性混合模型，将研究视为随机效应，以检验器官重量占体重的百分比（%BW）、产肉量与其他动物属性之间的关系。最佳心脏重量模型（%BW）包括性别、物种（鸡或火鸡）、禽类用途（肉用或蛋用）、胸肉产量（%）和活重（克）的影响。最佳肝脏重量模型（%BW）包括物种、禽类用途、胸肉产量（%）和活重（克）。最佳肺重量（%BW）模型包括心脏重量（克）。使用残差分析、均方根预测误差和一致性相关系数对模型性能进行评估。研究结果表明，与肉鸡和火鸡相比，蛋鸡相对于体重的心脏更大。肝脏和肺模型显示，与蛋鸡相比，肉鸡的肝脏（%BW）更大，并且肺重量（%BW）与心脏重量（克）呈负相关。这些结果凸显了在以产肉量为重点的育种计划中考虑器官健康的潜在必要性。
