Relationship of Age and Live weight to Linear Body Traits in Female Intensively Reared Boschveld Chicken in Namibia

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between linear body measurements and age and body weight in indigenous female chickens of the Boschveld breed in Namibia. Materials and Methods: Thirty-five chickens were reared from day-old to 18 weeks of age at the university farm. Neck length, shank length, comb length, keel length, chest girth, wing length, beak length and body length were measured weekly over 18 weeks. Results: The study found a strong, positive and significant correlation [r (17) $0.97#1, p<0.001] between age and linear body measurements and between body weight and linear body measurements [r (17) $0.96#0.99, p<0.001]. On a weekly basis, shank length, keel length, beak length, comb length, chest girth, neck length, wing length and body length increased on average by 0.47, 0.56, 0.13, 0.26, 1.44, 0.93, 0.95 and 1.15 cm respectively. For every 1 cm change in shank length, keel length, beak length, comb length, chest girth, neck length, wing length and body length, body weight increased on average by 217.8, 183.2, 750.5, 382.1, 69.2, 111.6, 0.104 and 86.5 g, respectively. Age was responsible for 94.5 and 99.4% of the variation in the linear body parameters, while body weight explained 92.5 and 97.8% of the variation up to 18 weeks of age. Neck length had the highest, positive and significant correlation to age [r (17) =1, p<0.001] and body weight [r (17) = 0.99, p<0.001] and was therefore considered the best predictor of the two parameters. Results of this study showed that neck length is an appropriate measure for predicting age and body weight in Boschveld chickens up to 18 weeks of age. Conclusion: The results of this study have a potential application in the monitoring of growth in poultry enterprises for timely diagnosis of stunted growth in female Boschveld chickens due to subtle pathology.