Effect of acute shower before slaughter on physiological and biochemical indexes and meat quality of Yellow chickens

On the considering that the acute shower treatment is commonly employed before slaughter in the broiler slaughter field in Southern China area, the effects of acute shower on the physiological and biochemical characteristics and the quality of the Yellow Chickens meat were investigated. The results showed: discharge of blood was ( 45.58 ± 7.96) g in the Yellow Chickens after acute shower group, the data was significantly lower than the control group which was ( 52.64 ± 8.02) g ( p <0.05) .Adrenocorticotropic hormone ACTH content in plasma was ( 42.84 ± 1.28) ng/L in the Yellow Chickens after acute shower group, the value was significantly higher than the control group that was ( 30.99 ± 0.06) ng/L, and plasma corticosterone hormone CORT content was ( 35.95 ± 3.31) ng/m L, the value was significantly higher than the control group that was ( 16.42 ±1.50) ng/m L ( p < 0.01) . 45 min after slaughter, glycogen content, L*of breast meat and thigh meat were significantly lower than the control group ( p < 0.05) .24 h after slaughter, lactic acid content of breast meat and thigh meat were significantly lower than the control group, p H and drip loss, shear value were significantly higher than the control group ( p < 0.05) . The experiment data showed that the acute shower before slaughter had enhanced the stress reaction of Yellow Chickens, which resulted in a lower quality level of chicken meat.