Genetic trends of abdominal fat content in a male broiler chicken line.
Data of chickens from a broiler-breeding program were collected and used to determine the genetic trends of absolute and relative abdominal fat content. The genetic trends were estimated by the regression of trait genetic value averages on hatch-years. Genetic values from 32,485 individuals were used for regression analysis. The genetic trend estimate for absolute abdominal fat content was +0.39 g per year, indicating that abdominal fat deposition in the analyzed line, in absolute terms, tended to increase, making the existing excess fat deposition in the broilers even worse. However, the genetic trend of relative abdominal fat content was not significant, indicating that there is no increase on abdominal fat content when it is corrected for body weight.
Grupo de Melhoramento Animal, Departamento de Ciências Básicas, Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Pirassununga, SP, Brasil. genova@usp.br
Leila de Genova
Lde G
Gaya
Gerson Barreto
GB
Mourão
Fernanda Marcondes
FM
de Rezende
Elisângela Chicaroni
EC
de Mattos
Tércio
T
Michelan Filho
Luís Gustavo Girardi
LG
Figueiredo
José Bento Sterman
JB
Ferraz
Joanir Pereira
JP
Eler
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001823:Body Composition / Q000235:genetics*; D002645:Chickens / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D008040:Genetic Linkage / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D012044:Regression Analysis