Managing breast myopathies in broiler production

Since the 1960s, the steadily growing consumer demand for chicken meat has driven poultry companies to implement breeding programs aimed at improving broilers’ growth performance, supported by notable advancements in poultry management and nutrition. This has indirectly led to the appearance of several breast myopathies, namely white striping, wooden breast, and spaghetti meat, having detrimental effects on the overall meat quality and consumer acceptability of affected fillets, and with the prevalence strongly related to broilers’ growth rate. Therefore, there is a critical need for approaches useful to reduce the occurrence of these myopathies. The present chapter aims at exploring the characterizing features of these myopathies, the evidence concerning their potential causes and associated risk factors, as well as the proposed strategies focused on mitigating their prevalence and severity. The consistent lack of studies investigating their effects on broiler welfare highlights the urgency of addressing this topic.