Path coefficient analysis of body weight and morphological traits of nigerian indigenous chickens [electronic resouce]

Includes references.

In this study, body weight and eight biometric traits namely, comb height, comb length, beak length, body length, neck length, shank length, chest circumference and thigh circumference of 238 adult Nigerian autochthonous chickens were subjected to multivariate analysis. The birds reared under the traditional scavenging system, were randomly selected in Nasarawa State, north central Nigeria. The investigation aimed at determining the explanatory variables that most effectively influenced the body weight of indigenous chickens of both sexes using path coefficient technique. Sex-associated differences (P<0.05) were observed in all the studied traits, with superior values recorded for males. Phenotypic correlations between body weight and body dimensions in cocks ranged from 0.55-0.97. Correspondingly, a range of 0.46-0.85 was obtained in hens.

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