Comparison in indicators of growth and development affecting the meat productivity of cockerels in resource populations

Creation of animal resource populations is a convenient tool for studying genetic diversity, increasing efficiency of breeding, and conserving genetic resources. In the article, we studied the resource population of males of egg and meat direction of productivity, as well as their progeny of the first and second generations, analyzed the differences in growth and development in different generations. An analysis of the difference and variability in terms of live weight was carried out. Characteristic of exterior was given based on the indices of massiveness and broad body - indicators that have dependencies with meat productivity of poultry. In birds of the first and second generation, a significant difference in live weight was revealed in comparison with the parental form of the Russian White breed at all ages, and in comparison, with the Cornish breed - from the 4th to the 12th week in birds of the second generation and to the 16th week in birds of the first generation. Coefficient of variation showed that in males of the first generation at the age of 10…12 weeks it was above 25%, which indicates a high degree of variability of the trait in terms of live weight, in comparison with other animals in the resource population. The Cornish breed had the lowest coefficient of variability for the traits at 6, 12, and 20 weeks of age. In terms of broad body and massive indices, the effect of heterosis was observed in males of the second generation during their development by the age of 20 weeks, which characterized them as healthy and fast-growing individuals with well-developed muscles. The results of our study can help poultry farmers in breeding work when selecting chickens to create new breeds and lines with improved characteristics, and for private and personal farms to increase the efficiency of their own production.