Prediction of carcass weight from body measurement traits of Chinese indigenous Dagu male chickens using path coefficient analysis

In the current study, correlation and path coefficient analysis were applied to investigate the relationship among body measurement traits and carcass weight, and to determine the direct and indirect effects of the body measurement traits including body slope length (BSL), breast width (BW), breast depth (BD), pelvis width (PW), shank length (SL) and shank circumference (SC) on carcass weight. Chinese indigenous Dagu male chickens (80) were used at eighteen weeks of age. Pair-wise correlation results showed high significance between carcass weight and body measurement traits. High correlation was between carcass weight and body slope length (0.596) while the lower correlation was between breast depth and shank length (0.112), respectively. Path coefficient analysis results indicated that shank circumference and shank length had the highest direct effect (0.225, 0.223) on carcass weight than other body measurement traits and breast depth had the highest indirect effect (0.125), respectively. The current study might be used by chicken farmers for prediction of carcass weight while the chicken is still alive.