Effects of Male Selection for Body Weight on Performance of Offsprings in Broiler Pure-Lines

M Sarica,Ö Camci,E Oğuzhan,K Erensoy,B Yeter

doi:10.1590/1806-9061-2021-1464

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine the effects of the variation in body weight (BW) in pure lines even after selection on the BW and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of offsprings in broiler pure-lines. The males of the dam (A1) and sire (B1) line were grouped according to their BW after selection at the 6th and 12 th weeks of age. In the sire lines, the heaviest males at six weeks of age were selected (300), and the selected males were divided into three groups in terms of BW as average (B11: 100 males), high (B12: 100 males), and the highest (B13: 100 males). In the dam lines, the selected males were divided into three groups as an average (A11: 100 males), low (A12: 100 males), and high BW (A13: 100 males). In the dam line, offsprings of males with average and high BW had the highest BW at 42 days of age compared to the low BW group (p<0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference in BW between the BW groups in the offsprings of the sire line. Offsprings of dam line males with average and higher than average BW had better FCR values. However, there was no significant change in FCR between the offsprings of the sire line BW groups. As a result, it is thought that by preserving the variation at a certain level in future generations, a significant improvement can be achieved in the BW and FCR by selecting heavier males.

Highlights

Selection for body weight (BW) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) have attracted great attention in the poultry industry due to their economic and environmental effects (Mebratie et al, 2019)
Genetic selection programs have led to an increase in the growth rate and meat yield in broilers from the mid-20th century, and significantly reducing the slaughter age and the amount of feed and energy required to reach slaughter weight (Tallentire et al, 2016; Muth & Zarate, 2017; Hartcher & Lum, 2020)
This study aimed to determine the effects of the variation in BW in pure-lines even after selection on the BW and feed conversion ratio of offsprings in broiler pure-lines

Summary

Introduction

Selection for body weight (BW) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) have attracted great attention in the poultry industry due to their economic and environmental effects (Mebratie et al, 2019). Breeding of broilers is completed at the pure-line stage and genetic progress is achieved at this stage in terms of the desired traits (Leeson & Summers, 2010). The most important breeding goal is to obtain the highest heterosis in crossing systems used in hybrid production (Türkoğlu & Sarıca, 2018). General combining ability is developed with a strong selection on pure-lines. The specific combining ability of the lines developed in this way in crossing systems in different combinations are tested and the most appropriate pureline combinations for the hybrid production model are determined (van Grevenhof & Van der Werf, 2015; Türkoğlu & Sarıca, 2018; Calus et al, 2019). It is known that there is a strong genetic correlation eRBCA-2021-1464

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