Measurement of the Body Size and Carcass Traits of Fei Ducks and Analysis on the Correlations between Different Traits

The body size and carcass traits of 8-week-old Tiannong Fei ducks were measured and the correlations between different traits were analysed.The results showed that there were very significant differences between the male and female ducks for half diving depth,shank length and body weight(P0.01),significant differences for body slope length,fossil bone length and shank circumference(P0.05);and there were very significant differences between the male and female ducks for carcass weight,half eviscerated weight,eviscerated weight and leg muscle weight(P0.01),significant differences for lean meat weight(P0.05).Highly significant correlations existed between body weight and different body sizes(except breast width)(P0.01);highly significant or significant correlations existed between body sizes in the experiment and slaughter weight,carcass weight,half eviscerated weight and eviscerated weight(P0.05 or P0.01);and there were highly significant correlations among body weight,carcass weight,half eviscerated weight,eviscerated weight,breast muscle weight,leg muscle weight and lean meat weight(P0.01),but there was no correlations between percentages of above weight traits and body weight,carcass weight(P0.05).