Carcass Characteristics in Three Lines of Quail (Coturnix ‎coturnix spp) and Their Crosses II- The Percentages

Shekhmous H. Hussen*(1)

(1). Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok, KR– Iraq.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Shekhmous H. Hussen. E-Mail: sheikhmous68@gmail.com).

Received: 23/03/2020                               Accepted: 29/05/2020

Abstract

A total of 54 quail birds aged 42 days from both sexes within nine genotypes (WW, LL, DD, WL, WD, LD, LW, DW and DL) – that resulted from full diallel cross of three lines (White, Light brown and Dark brown) – were used in this research. The trial was conducted at Dept. of Animal production, college of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok, KR-Iraq, 2016. The live birds were weighed (LBW) and then slaughtered to be dissected into four major parts after eviscerating; the giblets part, the whole slaughtered birds (carcass), both legs and finally the rest body (included breast and back of both sides). These major parts were weighed and calculated as ratio to LBW to be percentage (%). The findings showed that the effect of genotype, sex and their interaction were significant on all studied characteristics, except the effect of sex on giblets %. The WD cross recorded the highest carcass and body %, while the WW line achieved the highest giblets % and DL reciprocal cross resulted in the highest leg %. The males surpassed females in carcass, leg and body %; in spite of superiority of females in LBW than males. The crosses resulted from D dam, appeared the highest interaction with males for carcass, body and leg percentages; while the same line as sire was combined well with L line as dam, and interacted positively with males for giblets %. Carcass percent correlated significantly and negatively with LBW, and regression analysis illustrated a good dependency of carcass % on LBW.

 Key words: Quail, Crosses, Carcass dissection percentages.

Full paper in English: PDF

Carcass Characteristics in Three Lines of Quail (Coturnix ‎coturnix spp) and their Crosses. I- The Weights

Shekhmous H. Hussen*(1) Asia M. Hassan(1) Jameela H. Salih(1) and Khabat N. Hussein(1)

(1). Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Shekhmous H. Hussen. E-Mail: sheikhmous68@gmail.com).  

Received: 13/01/2020                               Accepted: 12/03/2020

Abstract

A total of 54 birds aged 42 days old from both sexes (equally) of different quail genotypes resulted from complete diallel cross design of three lines (White-W, Light brown-L and Dark brown-D) were used in the present study. The trial was conducted at Animal Production Dept., College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok, Sumail, KR-Iraq, during 2016. The aim was to investigate the carcass characteristics of the quail genotypes. Live body weight and the following carcass characteristics; blood, feather, shank, head, gizzard, heart, liver, thigh, drumstick, breast, back, neck, wing and dressing carcass (with giblets) were weighed (gm.). The results showed that there were significant differences among studied genotypes and between both sexes, in addition to their interaction. In general, the best genotype for carcass characteristics was LL line; but for some main cuts, economic cuts and inedible out-parts, the DW reciprocal cross shared LL line the superiority; while for gizzard weight, the DL reciprocal cross recorded the superiority compared to the rest genotypes. However, the average carcass weights as affected by genotype were ranged from 118.5 – 144.5 gm. The females recorded higher values than males for all significant characters. The interaction between genotype and sex appeared that few genotypes interacted significantly with specific sex (female). As conclusion, the crosses didn’t appear any superiority for carcass characteristics; while a specific line and specific reciprocal cross appeared superiority in specific characters.

 Key words: Quail, Lines, Crosses, Carcass weights.

Full paper in English: PDF