Assessing genetic and phenotypic parameters of economic traits in Rhode Island Red (RIR) chicken layers Meena Ruhi*, Kumar Sanjeev, Bhanja S. K., Aruna T. S., Chaudhary Chirag ICAR-Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar-243122 *Corresponding author Email: ruhimeena12@gmail.com
Online Published on 15 January, 2024. Abstract This study aimed to assess the impact of non-genetic and genetic factors on growth and layer economic traits. Genetic and phenotypic parameters were also estimated for layer economic traits in Rhode Island Red (RIR) breeds. Records of chicken were collected from the Experimental Layer Farm of the Institute (CARI, Izatnagar). The estimated least square means for age at sexual maturity (ASM), Body weight at 20 and 40 week of age (BW20 BW40), egg weight at 28 and 40 weeks of age (EW28 EW40) and egg production at 40 week of age (EP40) were found as 186.37±1.67 days, 1517.69±0.40 g, 1783.43±0.73 g, 41.69±00.29g, 48.87±00.21 g and 51.06±1.33 egg, respectively. Sire had a significant (P≤0.05) influence on ASM, BW20 and EW40 and hatch showed non-significant effect on all traits except EP40. The highest estimates were observed in 2nd hatch for all layer economic traits but the lowest estimates were for growth traits. Birds born in the first hatch were heavier than those of second hatch due to differences in nutrition, and management in the various hatches. Low heritability was estimated for EP40 and BW40 while ASM and BW20 were moderately heritable. Top Keywords Genetic and phenotypic correlation, Heritability, Layer economic traits, non-genetic factor, RIR breed. Top |