Genetic and Environment Factors Affecting Size of Body and Body Parts of Turkeys

EXTENSIVE studies of growth rate, body size and conformation of turkeys have established that these traits are subject to considerable genetic variation (Jaap, 1938; Asmundson and Lerner, 1940; Asmundson, 1944, 1945, 1948; Asmundson and Pun, 1954a, b). Most of the heritability estimates of body weight of turkeys range from a low of .16 to a high of .62, the majority being from .35 to .50 (Abplanalp and Kosin, 1952; Goodman, Brunson and Godfrey, 1954; Bumgardner and Shaffner, 1954; McCartney, 1955; Kondra and Shoffner, 1956). The variation in these estimates may be due to differences in age or strain of turkey, or, in part, to differences in experimental technique. Heritability of body measurements (shank length, keel length, breast width and breast depth), as reported by Abplanalp and Kosin (1952) for turkeys at 26 weeks of age, ranged from about .13 to .51, while similar estimates presented by Kondra and Shoffner (1956) …