Corsicana FFA Member Analyses Fat Percentage During Finishing Phase of Market Broiler Production
Tuesday, November 15, 2022 | Author: Texas FFA News
A Corsicana FFA member turned her previous struggle with market poultry into a successful Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) project in the Agriscience Fair.
Sarah Beck has shown market poultry since she was in third grade. At several points throughout her livestock show career, judges mentioned her poultry had soft breast meat, a sign of too much fat during the finishing phase. This hurdle led the Texas FFA member to begin researching solutions to the issue. However, she found it was difficult to find relevant information on the topic.
“This brought about my current agriscience fair project where I planned and conducted an experiment to measure the fat percentages in various feed mixtures with added fat used during the finishing phase of market broiler production,” Beck said.
To conduct the experiment, Beck mixed various fat sources with poultry finishing feed and administered it to her broilers. She would take the same mixture and record its weight.
“My goal was to analyze and apply information from a feed label, and I determined that the finishing pellets I use contain six percent fat and are fed with an unlimited supply to the broilers,” Beck said.
Beck said her research has not only been beneficial to her market poultry projects, but also the agriculture industry. Prior to her agriscience fair project, it was difficult to find information on over finishing of breast meat.
Beck’s successful SAE project was recognized at the 2022 Texas FFA State Convention as a Star Greenhand in Agriscience.
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