Subcutaneous feather tract denervation does not alter feather retention force ante- and postmortem in broilers

To determine whether feather retention force (FRF) in 6-wk-old commercial b roilers was influenced by the presence or absence of cutaneous innervation, nerve trunks for the pectoral and sternal feather tracts were severed unil aterally (left side) in Trial 1. Ln Trial 2, the sternal subcutaneous nerve trunk was severed either unilaterally (left or right side) or bilaterally. Four days postdenervation, FRF was determined bilaterally either antemorte m (immediately prior to stunning) or 2 min after stunning and bleeding (pos tmortem). In Trial 1, the pectoral feather tract ante- and postmortem FRF values did not differ significantly for innervated or denervated tracts. In this trial , the sternal feather tract ante- and postmortem FRF values were 13% higher (44 g) for the denervated (left side) than for the innervated (right side) treatments. Partitioning this difference into the effects of sample side o r innervation could not be attained because only the left side was denervat ed (left-denervation or right-innervated) in Trial 1. Ln Trial 2, both the left and right sternal feather tracts were represented in equal numbers for the innervated and denervated treatments, and there were no significant di fferences in FRF related to innervation, left and right side, or ante- and postmortem sample times. The presence or absence of cutaneous nerve innerva tion does not arrear to influence FRF ante- or postmortem. This finding ind icates that treatments disabling the central nervous system antemortem may lower FRF indirectly by altering cutaneous metabolism and therefore have be en consistently unsuccessful in substantially altering postmortem FRF.