Abstract
Because of the relatively long growing cycle and the high cost of research into turkey production and nutrition, the potential benefits from modelling growth in this avian species are considerable. Though there are many studies aimed at evaluating animal growth models, the number of studies targeting growth models in turkeys is quite limited. In this paper we present a sinusoidal function to describe the evolution of growth in turkeys as a function of time based on data published by Aviagen. The new function was evaluated with regard to its ability to describe the relationship between body weight and age in turkeys and was compared to four standard growth functions: the Gompertz, logistic, Lopez, and Richards. The results of this study show that the new sinusoidal function precisely describes the growth dynamics of turkeys. Fitting the functions to different data profiles nearly always led to the same or less maximized log-likelihood values for the sinusoidal equation, indicating its suitability in describing growth data from turkeys.
Highlights
Turkey meat is an excellent protein source and has a good price-quality ratio (Roberson et al, 2003)
Understanding the economic importance of various traits such as live weight, weight gain, rate of maturity, and age and live weight at which maximal growth occurs has led researchers to carry out detailed studies targeting the weight-age relationship (Ersoy, Mendeş & Aktan, 2006)
The objective of the present study is to introduce a new sinusoidal function into poultry science by applying it to temporal growth data from turkeys, and comparing its fitting performance with that of four standard growth functions, viz. the Gompertz, logistic, Lopez and Richards
Summary
Turkey meat is an excellent protein source and has a good price-quality ratio (Roberson et al, 2003). Understanding the economic importance of various traits such as live weight, weight gain, rate of maturity, and age and live weight at which maximal growth occurs has led researchers to carry out detailed studies targeting the weight-age relationship (Ersoy, Mendeş & Aktan, 2006). For this reason, different mathematical growth models have been applied and developed (Gompertz, 1925; Von Bertalanffy, 1957; Richards, 1959; López, France, Dhanoa, Mould & Dijkstra, 2000; France, Dijkstra & Dhanoa, 1996). Mathematical equations, usually referred to as growth functions, have been used to relate body weight (BW) to age
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