Heritability of carcass traits in Japanese quails over 2 generations

摘要

One hundred twenty Japanese quails were reared from day 1 age and allowed to randomly mate to day 21, when females were sexed. Birds were then housed in individual cages and aged at 1st egg laid as the parental generation. Then groups of 10 families with 1 male and 3 female were kept in cages to produce a 1st first generation (from the same eggs of parents). The results suggested that offspring had higher (P < 0.01) chest, thighs and back weights but no significant difference in head, neck, liver, wings or gizzard weights. We conclude that selection can significantly improve carcass and carcass part weights in Japanese quails.