Estimation of genetic parameters for carcass traits in Japanese quail using Bayesian methods

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of some carcass characteristics in the Japanese quail. For this aim, carcass weight (Cw), breast weight (Bw), leg weight (Lw), abdominal fat weight (AFw), carcass yield (CP), breast percentage (BP), leg percentage (LP) and abdominal fat percentage (AFP) were measured on approximately 500 quails (offspring of 60 sires and 180 dams). Gibbs sampling (GS) under a multi-trait animal model was applied to estimate heritability and genetic correlations. Genetic analyses were performed using MTGSAM (Multiple Trait Gibbs Sampling) software. Heritability estimates for all the traits were low to moderate. Point estimates (means of marginal posterior densities) of heritabilities for Cw, Bw, Lw, AFw and Cp, Bp, Lp, AFp were 0.42, 0.36, 0.34, 0.40 and 0.11, 0.18, 0.12, 0.29, respectively. Genetic correlations between the carcass parts (Cw, Bw, Lw, AFw) were high and positive, ranging from 0.65 to 0.87. Direct selection for total carcass weight would increase its component traits. There were moderate to high negative genetic relationships between AFP and LP (-0.27), AFP and BP (-0.34), and AFP and CP (-0.89). Therefore, a decreasing AFP in quail could be reached by direct selection for higher Cp.