A sinusoidal equation as alternative to conventional growth functions to describe the evolution of growth in quail

Hassan Darmani-Kuhi,Secundino López,James France,Navid Ghavi Hossein-Zadeh

doi:10.5424/sjar/2019173-14973

Abstract

Aim of study: The aim of the present study was to introduce a sinusoidal equation into poultry science by applying it to temporal growth data from quail.Material and methods: To examine the performance of the sinusoidal equation in describing the growth patterns of quail, four conventional growth functions (Gompertz, logistic, López and Richards) were used as reference in this study. Comparison of models was carried out by analysing model behaviour when fitting the curves using nonlinear regression and assessing statistical performance. Maximum log-likelihood estimation, mean squared error, Akaike and Bayesian information criteria were used to evaluate the general goodness-of-fit of each model to the different data profiles.Main results: The selected sinusoidal equation precisely describes the growth dynamics of quail. Comparison of the growth functions in terms of the goodness-of-fit criteria revealed that the sinusoidal equation was one of the most appropriate functions to describe the age-related changes of bodyweight in quail.Research highlights: To the best of our knowledge there are no studies available on the use of sinusoidal equations to describe the evolution of growth in quail. The sinusoidal equation used in this study represents a suitable alternative to conventional growth functions to describe the growth curves for a range of strains/lines of male and female Japanese quail.

Highlights

Growth is a fundamental property of biological systems and can be defined as an increase in body size with time
Comparison of the growth functions in terms of the goodness-of-fit criteria revealed that the sinusoidal equation was one of the most appropriate functions to describe the age-related changes of bodyweight in quail
The sinusoidal equation used in this study represents a suitable alternative to conventional growth functions to describe the growth curves for a range of strains/lines of male and female Japanese quail

Summary

Introduction

Growth is a fundamental property of biological systems and can be defined as an increase in body size with time. Understanding of the economic importance of various traits, such as body weight, weight gain, rate of maturity, and age and weight at which maximal growth occurs, has led researchers to carry out detailed studies targeting weight-age relationships (Ersoy et al., 2006). For this purpose, different mathematical growth functions have been applied and developed (Gompertz, 1825; von Bertalanffy, 1957; Richards, 1959; France et al, 1996; López et al, 2000). These functions can be used to determine the efficiency of nutrient utilization, which is the derivative of the relationship between body weight and dietary nutrient intake, and as response functions to predict daily energy, protein and amino acids requirements for maintenance and growth and efficiency of utilisation

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Methods

Conclusion