STRENGTH AND NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY WEIGHT AND LINEAR BODY MEASUREMENTS IN ANAK WHITE BROILER CHICKEN IN ABEOKUTA, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the strength and nature of relationship between body weight (BW) and five body size traits in Anak White broiler chicken. Total of sixty (n = 60) day old unsexed Anak White chicks were procured from 'FUNAAB LEVENTIS’, Abeokuta, Nigeria and used as experimental animal jor ten weeks. The birds were brooded together for the first two weeks under standard management practices and were thereafter subjected to same treatment with commercial feed and water provided ad libitum. Measurable body traits such as body length (BL), keel length (KL), shank length (SL), thigh length (TL) and wing length (WL) were taken weekly. For BW, BL, KL, SL, TL and WL, the mean values were 1.85 + 0.02 kg, 22.85 £0.15 cm, 11.92 £0.10 cm, 12.62 + 0.07 cm, 16.47 + 0.11 cm and 17.45 + 0.10 cm, respectively at 10 weeks of age. Correlation and regression coefficients (that is r and B,) between these quantitative traits were obtained to determine the intensity and nature of their associations. In this study 'r‘ ranged from 0.93 to 0.99 and 'B,' ranged from 0.14 to 2.20, respectively. The study confirmed that there was a strong relationship between body weight and linear body measurements in Anak White broiler chicken.