Leila de Genova Gaya, Gerson Barreto Mourão, Fernanda Marcondes de Rezende, ElisângelaChicaroni de Mattos, Tércio Michelan Filho, Luís Gustavo Girardi Figueiredo, José Bento Sterman Ferraz, Joanir Pereira Eler.
Published December 15, 2005
Genet. Mol. Res. 4 (4): 760-764 (2005)
About the Authors
Leila de Genova Gaya, Gerson Barreto Mourão, Fernanda Marcondes de Rezende, ElisângelaChicaroni de Mattos, Tércio Michelan Filho, Luís Gustavo Girardi Figueiredo, José Bento Sterman Ferraz, Joanir Pereira Eler.
Corresponding author
L.G. Gaya
Email: genova@usp.br
ABSTRACT
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.
Key words: Abdominal fat, Animal breeding, Broilers, Genetic value, Genetic trend.