Measuring Quality Parameters in the Poultry and Egg Industry – Bones and Intestines

Three-Point Bend Test: Chicken Bones 

In poultry, musculoskeletal disorders are a major negative outcome of poor nutrition. The food given to a chicken directly affects its bones, muscles and tendons; foods such as rye can cause bone strength to deteriorate. Young chickens used in meat production suffer a large proportion of these problems as good nutrition is crucial during rapid adolescent growth. This can lead to a high adolescent mortality rate and lameness, both of which contribute to decreased economic yields. 

Typical test using the Three-Point Bend Rig 

Flexure tests are common practice for measuring bone strength. These may take the form of a cantilever test (in which the bone is clamped in place at one end) or a three-point bend test. 

Published research examples that use this test: 

• Evaluation of Increasing Manganese Hydroxychloride Level on Male Broiler Growth Performance and Tibia Strength – Scientists from Texas A&M AgriLife Research used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to perform flexural tests on tibia samples. 
• Effect of 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol with Different Vitamin D3 Levels in the Hens Diet in the Rearing Period on Growth Performance, Bone Quality, Egg Production, and Eggshell Quality – Researchers from Sichuan Agricultural University used their TA.XTplus Texture Analyser to measure tibia strength. 

Tensile Strength: Chicken Intestines 

Contamination problems in broiler chicken processing plants can be a very difficult economic problem. Contamination risk is linked to the length of pre-slaughter feed withdrawal. Excessive withdrawal times can cause fragile intestines – a difficulty during automated processing. Stronger intestines are more robust during processing and reduce the risk of plant contamination. Feed withdrawal must be optimised for maintaining digestive system integrity while successfully targeting physical emptying. 

Typical tensile test using Self-Tightening Roller Grips 

Tensile testing of intestines is an effective method for measuring their integrity, and assessing their risk of breakage during processing.

Read the next instalment Measuring Quality Parameters in the Poultry & Egg Industry – Processed Chicken Product Testing on the blog next week. 

There is a Texture Analysis test for virtually any physical property. Contact Stable Micro Systems today to learn more about our full range of solutions.

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For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.

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