Abstract
ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to determine the goodness of fit of Gompertz, Logistic, Von Bertalanffy, Richards, Levakovich and Janoschek growth models in Japanese quail. Therefore, weekly live-weight data obtained from 372 females and 339 males were fitted. Females’ live weights were found to be higher than that of males, and the first divergence in the growth of female and male birds occurred in 21–28 days, and it survived until the experiment (P < .001). The coefficient of determination (R2), adjusted coefficient of determination (adj. R2), mean square error (MSE), Akaike’s information criteria (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were used to determine the best growth model. R2 and adjusted R2 values of the growth models were similar and close to 1, indicating that all models perform well in describing age-related changes in live weight in quail. Based on the MSE, AIC and BIC values, Richards model was determined to be the best fitting model to the growth data of both sexes. Consequently, it has been demonstrated that Richards function which has a flexible structure in terms of inflection point is the most appropriate growth function for both female and male birds.
Highlights
Growth in an animal is a whole of complex physiological and morphological processes from hatching to maturity which is defined as the increases in the weight and volume measurements of the organs or body for a given time (Topal et al 2003; 2004; Topal & Bölükbaşı 2008)
Numerous growth models have been used considering the growth of poultry species
Live weights of birds at certain time points are related to both genetic factors and environmental conditions
Summary
Growth in an animal is a whole of complex physiological and morphological processes from hatching to maturity which is defined as the increases in the weight and volume measurements of the organs or body for a given time (Topal et al 2003; 2004; Topal & Bölükbaşı 2008). There are differences between species, lines or individuals in terms of growth (Akbaş & Yaylak 2000; Narinç, Karaman et al 2010). Growth modelling in poultry species gives information on suitable slaughter age, general management and health conditions, age of sexual maturity and the effects of genetic improvement studies. Semi-empirical non-linear regression functions have been used to model growth. These functions have a varying number of parameters, among which at least one has a biological meaning (Akbaş & Oğuz 1998; Tzeng & Becker 1981). The most common growth models used in poultry animals are Gompertz, Richards, Von Bertalanffy, Brody, Logistic, Negative Exponential, Morgan–Mercer–Flodin and recently the Hyperbolastic models (Ahmadi & Mottaghitalab 2007; Narinç, Aksoy, Karaman 2010)
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