Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL AND VETERINARY ADVANCES, cilt.9, sa.3, ss.501-507, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
This study was carried out to estimate heritabilities of growth curve parameters, weekly body weights and genetic-phenotypic correlations among the traits of growth in Japanese quail. Body weight data taken from hatching to 6 weeks of age of approximately 500 quails of both sexes from 40 sires and 120 dams were utilized to estimate genetic parameters. Restricted maximum likelihood estimation was applied for variance-covariance structures of a multiple trait pooled (sire and dam) components model using SAS PROC MIXED and SAS/IML. Growth curves for individual quail were fitted using the Gompertz model. Mean and heritability estimates of Gompertz model parameters beta(0), beta(1), beta(2), were 227.57, 3.44, 0.084 and 0.42, 0.21, 0.40, respectively. Heritability estimates of weekly live weights ranged from 0.42-0.62. Means and heritabilities for weight and age at the inflection point were estimated as 83.72, 15.23 and 0.36, 0.08 g, respectively. All genetic correlations were higher than phenotypic correlations. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between the growth curve parameters were relatively high and negative with one exception. The only positive correlation was between beta(1) and beta(2). Genetic and phenotypic correlations between the parameter beta(0) and body weights were positive and moderate to high. The genetic and phenotypic correlation estimates of parameter beta(2) among weekly body weights were generally negative.