Estimation of genetic parameters for some egg quality traits in Japanese quails by using Gibbs sampling

The purpose of this study was to estimate genetic parameters by using Gibbs sampling for egg shell, albumen and yolk weight determined in the eggs collected from 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42. week of age in Japanese quails. In this study, the data set was 3132 egg shell, albumen and yolk weight observations determined in the eggs collected within 9 different age periods (10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42) from 375 female progeny quails produced by using 25 male and 75 female parents in the master thesis completed in Adnan Menderes University in 2002. The egg shell, albumen and yolk weight observations collected within 9 different age periods were analyzed by using mutiple trait linear mixed model. In Japanese quails, the estimate of heritabilities and their standart errors for yolk weight were 0,23±0,09, 0,19±0,08, 0,43±0,11, 0,57±0,15, 0,20±0,10, 0,40±0,12, 0,24±0,11, 0,23±0,11 and 0,40±0,12, for albumen 0,33±0,10, 0,16±0,08, 0,42±0,20, 0,39±0,13, 0,37±0,10, 0,30±0,11, 0,19±0,08, 0,43±0,12 and 0,35±0,13 and for egg shell 0,21±0,09, 0,14±0,08, 0,19±0,9, 0,18±0,09, 0,28±0,10, 0,48±0,13, 0,52±0,14, 0,34±0,12 and 0,45±0,13 based on 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38 and 42-week age, respectively. In this study, although the genetic correlations between albumen and yolk weight were between -0,23 and 0,80 based on age periods, those of them were found to significant for 10, 18 and 22 week of age. Also, the genetic correlations between yolk weight and egg shell were estimated between -0,26 and 0,48 and were significant for only 42-week age. The genetic correlations between albumen and egg shell were determined between 0,23 and 0,68 and were found to be significant for 10, 26, 30, 34 and 38-week age. 2007, 77 pages Key words Gibbs Sampling, egg quality trait, Japanese quail.