There is a little bit confusion about the origin of white striping and wooden breasts in broilers. Do you have some scientific results about this topic?
This is a condition characterized by interstitial connective tissue accumulation or fibrosis in the pectoralis major muscle of the commercial broiler creating remarkable economic loss to farmers. Previously, etiologies for such morphologic changes was indicated to be nutritional causes, such as deficiency of selenium and/or vitamin E, excess of their antagonists, and ionophore toxicity; hypoxia; and genetic vulnerabilities. However, recent investigations suggest the condition is related to heavy weight and/or rapid growth rate of broilers causing myodegeneration of the anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle and macroscopic white striping of pectoralis and thigh muscles.
Birds with heavy growth rate produce a lot of metabolic heat. Cross sectional analysis of the pectoralis muscle of affected birds generally shows the condition to be worse near the outer surface of the muscle. This area would be most affected by the combination of restricted blood flow from laying down on the litter and localized heat build up where the bird is in contact with the litter. There do not appear to be causal links for a genetic or nutritional trigger for the condition. I find the links to be weak or sporadic at best.
As poultry manager before, since here in the Philippines, we are only into management intervention than adding head cost from costly supplementation. What we do is to make sure the stocking rate density is appropriate/ ideal. Overcrowding can lead such condition. Also, make sure that you are providing ad libitum feeding, for them to prevent lying with their breast. And, regular activity of the caretaker but not to the extent you're giving stress to the flock is helpful to make them move. Check also the appropriate temperature and humidity. Caked litter material will lead such condition too.
You can please follow the links below:-
1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230880593_Influence_of_growth_rate_on_the_occurrence_of_white_striping_in_broiler_breast_fillets
2. http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/91/10/2677.full
Article Influence of growth rate on the occurrence of white striping...
We just had an interesting symposium on these topics of white striping and woody breast. We are in discussions about publishing the information now. The comments made previously are not out of line. There is still much information to learn in this area.
We have several papers in the area of WS by Kuttappan as Sandip posted.
I would be interested to know if anyone observes the woody condition seasonally.....
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