Growth, food conversion, carcass yields and their heritabilities in ducks (anas platyrhynchos)
- 1 January 1979
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in British Poultry Science
- Vol. 20 (1) , 121-127
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00071667908416556
Abstract
1. Live weight, food consumption, eviscerated carcass weight, breast muscle mass and ratios of these traits were measured in a strain of ducks of known pedigree. Heritabilities, genetic and phenotypic correlations were estimated for all traits. From the results the following conclusions are drawn. 2. Selection for live weight at market age would be simplest and most effective in improving growth rate and food conversion efficiency though would not necessarily markedly improve carcass lean meat. 3. Selection to increase the proportion of breast muscle (heritability (h 2 ): 0.55) should be effective but might depress body weight as a correlated response. The effect on fat content is uncertain. 4. Selection for food conversion efficiency (h2 : 0.21) might be expected to increase body weight, but its effect on carcass lean meat (proportion of breast muscle) is uncertain. 5. Selection for breast muscle mass (h 2 : 0.41) should improve body weight and food conversion efficiency but its effect on proportion of lean meat is much less certain (rG = 0.45 + 0.17).Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Estimating carcass composition in the duck (Anas platyrhynchos)British Poultry Science, 1974
- Sex Differences in Economic Traits of Long Island White Pekin Market DucklingsNature, 1964