ZOOMETRICAL BODY MEASUREMENTS AND THEIR RELATION WITH LIVE WEIGHT IN MATURED LOCAL MUSCOVY DUCKS

Zoometrical body measurements and their relationship with body weight of matured Muscovy ducks were determined. The effect of sex and plumage was significant (P < 0.05) for all body measurements. Drakes showed significantly higher body weight (2.71kg) than ducks (1.46kg) while black colored ducks had significantly higher weights than the other color types. High, positive and highly significant (P < 0.01) correlations were observed between body weights and all body measurements. Though chest girth (r = 0.85) and body length (r = 0.87) had the highest correlation with body weight, the most reliable prediction from regression analysis was between body weight and body length + chest girth + chest width (R2 = 0.856, SE = 0.290). These parameters may be used to evaluate the body weight of ducks, in addition to being used as selection criteria