| Summary: | The slaughter performance and meat quality of two native Italian chicken breeds, <i>Bionda Piemontese</i> (BP, <i>n</i> = 64) and <i>Bianca di Saluzzo</i> (BS, <i>n</i> = 64), were investigated. Two-way ANOVA, considering breed, sex, and their interaction, was used to compare the properties of birds slaughtered at 5, 6, 7, and 8 months of age. Subsequently, data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and the Duncan test to evaluate the differences between slaughter ages. The BP breed produced a better carcass yield than BS at 5, 7, and 8 months of age (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Breast moisture and crude protein contents were influenced by gender, and were higher in males than in females (<i>p</i> < 0.05). By contrast, the crude fat content was higher in females than in males (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The saturated fatty acid content of breast meat increased as the birds aged in both breeds (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The polyunsaturated fatty acid content of both breast and thigh meat was higher in males than in females (<i>p</i> < 0.001 and <i>p</i> < 0.05, respectively). In general, slaughtering at 7 months was associated with the best slaughter and meat quality characteristics in both breeds. Moreover, from a nutritional point of view, the characteristics of the meat from male birds were preferable to those of meat from females.
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