What is green muscle myopathy?

Green Muscle, Deep Pectoral Myopathy, or Oregon Disease, is a myopathy that primarily affects tenders. Not being externally detectable...

Green Muscle, Deep Pectoral Myopathy, or Oregon Disease, is a myopathy that primarily affects tenders. Not being externally detectable creates a problem for companies that make whole chickens and basic cuts and economic losses due to seizure for those that make boneless cuts.

Green Muscle - GM was first detected in adult turkeys in 1968, then in breeders in 1975, and finally in broilers in 1980.

GM is a degenerative myopathy that causes necrosis and atrophy of one or both Pectoralis minor muscles, known as tender, fillet, or tenderloin. Due to the lesion, it acquires a color that goes from hemorrhagic, when the problem begins, to green, after a few days of its occurrence.

The green color, which gives it its name, comes from the gradual conversion of hemoglobin and myoglobin to bile salts in the injured muscle. The problem, which appears to have a hereditary predisposition, primarily affects high-performing and heavy chickens. However, some researchers report that males are more susceptible than females, but there is a lack of information on the topic.