SEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION AND PHENOTPIC CORRELATIONS AMONG BIOMETRIC TRAITS OF NIGERIAN LOCAL TURKEY (MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO)
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.6488Mots-clés :
Nigerian local turkey, sex, wing length, body length, breast girthRésumé
One- hundred and twenty four (124) Nigerian local turkeys at age of six month were used for this study. Data were collected on growth traits to determine the effect of sex and phenotypic correlations among growth traits. Sex had significant effect (p<0.05) on all the variables in favour of male. The body weight, shank length, thigh length, body length, wing length, wing span and breast girth for males were 3.80 kg, 9.01 cm, 21.68 cm, 63.00 cm, 32.44 cm, 72.86 cm and 40.17 cm respectively, while the corresponding values for female were 2.93 kg, 7.27 cm, 17.96 cm, 55.37 cm, 28.18 cm, 63.92 cm and 36.14 cm. The correlation coefficients between body weight and the linear measurements in the two sexes were positive and mostly significant in male. It ranged between 0.291 and 0.561 in male and 0.233 and 0.721 in female. Sexual dimorphism was obvious in all the traits considered in favour of male in similar trend the positive correlations between body weight and the linear body measurements in the two sexes indicate pleiotropy which means improvement in any of the traits will lead to improvement in the body weight.