Phenotypic correlations between biologic markers and growth traits in Arbor acres broiler chicken strain

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the correlations between biologic markers,haematological indices and growth traits in Arbor Acres broiler strain. A total of 120 Arbor acres strain were used for the experiment which lasted for 56 days. The birds were raised in separate deep litter pens. Data collected include biologic markers: hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), mean cell volume (MCV), mean cellular hemoglobin (MCH), mean cellular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and biochemical parameters include: blood glucose (GLU) and total serum protein(PRT). Growth traits include: body weight (BW), body length (BL), shank length (SL), keel length (KL), wing length (WL), breast width (BWD) and drumstick length (DSL). The result obtained showed that MCHC in week 4 it associated significantly with breast length(rp=0.989) and keel length (rp= -0.986), whereas in week 6, serum protein, MCH, PCV, WBC and RBC proved significant markers based on their significant association (P<0.05;P<0.01) with SL (rp=0.975), KL (rp=0.981), DSL (rp= -0.982; -0.989) and BL (rp= -0.991). In week 8, Hb, WBC, MCV, MCH and MCHC proved to be useful markers for selecting keel length, breast length, body length, body length and thigh width in Arbor Acre. Highest correlation was observed between WBC and BL (rp= -0.991) and between MCH and breast length (rp= 0.991) in the 6 week. Due to the limited associations observed in week 4, it may be more reliable to apply the biologic markers in selection programs, starting at the 6 week for Arbor Acres broiler strains. This study advocates that highly polymorphic DNA-based markers which are more reliable should be attempted for improving body weight of broilers.