EFFECT OF SEX, STRAIN AND AGE ON BODY WEIGHT IN TURKEY POULTS

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the effect of breed, sex and age on the growth performance of turkey poults. A total of 86 Turkey poults which comprised of Black strain, White strain and Mixed strain were used to evaluate the weekly Body weight (BW) of these birds. The data on the weekly body weight obtained was subjected to analysis of variance and means was considered different at P < 0.05. The result of this study revealed that the male of Black strain have significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight than the male of Mixed and White strain. The study concluded that the effect (P<0.05) of breed and sex at different ages on body weight measurements showed the Black and mixed color demonstrate higher body weight than the White strain. The study recommends further investigation recommends genetic improvement through selective breeding of the black male and white female.