Growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and economic efficiency of ROSS 308 broilers at different slaughter ages and sexes

This study evaluated the effects of slaughter age (28, 35, 42, and 49 days) and sex on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and economic outcomes in broilers using a 4 × 2 factorial completely randomized design with 560 chicks allocated to ten replicate pens per treatment. Performance, carcass weight, and economic returns increased with advancing slaughter age (p < 0.05). Males exhibited greater live weight, carcass weight, feed efficiency, and absolute breast and leg weights than females, whereas females showed higher breast yield and abdominal fat percentage (p < 0.05). Meat quality was superior at earlier slaughter ages (28–35 days), with improved water-holding capacity and tenderness. Economic indicators, including net revenue, benefit–cost ratio, and economic efficiency, improved with age; however, the marginal economic return for pooled flocks plateaued after 42 days. Sex-specific responses indicated that males maintained acceptable profitability up to 49 days, whereas females reached optimal economic efficiency between 35 and 42 days. The significant slaughter age × sex interaction demonstrates that optimal slaughter strategies should be sex-specific. In conclusion, slaughtering at 42 days provided the best balance between biological performance and economic efficiency for mixed flocks, while sex-segregated marketing allowed better optimization of heavy male and medium-weight female production systems.HighlightsGrowth performance and carcass yield increased with slaughter age, whereas feed efficiency declined progressively.Broilers slaughtered at 28 days showed the most favorable meat-quality attributes, whereas older slaughter ages improved carcass yield and economic returns.Economic efficiency increased with slaughter age, peaking at 42 days, beyond which further weight gains yielded limited additional economic returns.Males maintained higher profitability than females across all slaughter ages.Sex-specific slaughter strategies can improve economic efficiency and reduce feed-cost risk in commercial broiler production.