Analyzing Growth Curves of Turkeys Reared in Different Breeding Systems (Intensive and Free-Range) with some Nonlinear Models

The objective of this study was to identify the growth curve of live weight of turkeys reared in different systems (intensive and free-range) with the best mathematical model. To achieve this goal, the live weight of male and female turkeys (Large White) reared for 0-18 weeks were used. Logistic, Gompertz, Von Bertalanffy, and Gauss were used to determine the best model for the turkeys. In comparison of the models, values of Coefficient of Determination (R-2), Mean Squares of Error (MSE) and Model Efficiency (ME) were used. In Von Bertalanffy model, the coefficient of determinations for males and females were found as 0.9974 and 0.99915 in intensive system and 0.9794 and 0.9804 in Free-Range system, respectively. As a result of this study, because the highest R-2 and the lowest MSE were observed in Von Bertalanffy model, it was the best among the models to identify growth curve of the turkeys.