Heritability, Genetic and Phenotypic Correlations in Three Indigenous Egyptian Chicken Lines

THE STUDY conducted aimed to examine the heritability, genetic and phenotypic correlations of body weight and egg production traits in Egyptian chickens. These traits are considered crucial in chicken production and the improvement of these traits through crossbreeding and selection programs is important for maximizing production. The data used in this study were obtained from three generations of three different chicken strains: Tanta G-1, Tanta G-2 and Mamourah. The researchers used the MCMC glmm package of R software to estimate the genetic parameters for these economically important traits in Gimmizah Station native chickens. After three generations of selection, the genetic correlations among body weight traits ranged from 0.78 to 0.96, 0.57 to 0.91 and 0.82 to 0.93 for Tanta G-1, Tanta G-2 and Mamourah chickens, respectively. The phenotypic correlation among different body weights ranged from 0.26 to 0.95, 0.17 to 0.96 and 0.38 to 0.97 for Tanta G-1, Tanta G-2 and Mamourah lines, respectively. These correlations increased from one generation to another. For the heritability of body weight traits, they ranged from 0.16 to 0.34, 0.15 to 0.33 and 0.13 to 0.19 for Tanta G-1, Tanta G-2 and Mamourah lines, respectively. In conclusion, the study suggests that simultaneous selection for both growth and egg production traits may result in a reduction in egg number but an increase in egg weight. This finding highlights the need for careful consideration when selecting for these traits to attain a balanced and optimal outcome in chicken production.