ABSTRACT

Body traits of two genotypes of puflets consisting of fifty Bovan Brown and fifty Lohmann Brown were compared using independent t-test. The traits measured were body weight (BWT), Shank length (SL), Shank diameter (SD), Keel length (KL), Breast width (B'!I). The feed intake, Average daily weight gain were also investigated. The results indicates that mortality rate were 10%, 24% for Bovan Brown and Lohmann Brown respectively. Bovan Brown performed significantly better (P < 0.05) with mean average of 8.934 versus 5.314 of Lohmann in average body weight gain having consumed less feed (p > 0.05). The means of the different body parameters of the two genotype of pullects between 2 — 16 weeks of age showed no significant (P > 0.05) difference. The correlation coefficient obtained indicates that these growth traits are related and the relationship between keel length (ki) and shank length (sl), breast width (bw) and shank diameter (Sd), body weight (hwt) and breast width (bw) showed high positive significant values (p < 0.05) for the two genotypes. However, the highest coefficient values were obtained from shank length and keel length (r 0.981). This suggests that the two genotypes should be selected for their high body weight for better egg production quality and better conformation during the growing phase...