Genetic parameters of body weight, egg production, and shell quality traits in the Shan Ma laying duck (Anas platyrhynchos)

Three hundred and four female ducks of the Chinese indigenous Shan Ma breed, progeny of 11 sires and 104 dams, were used to study laying traits. Among them, 264 ducks were used to study the egg shell quality traits of eggs laid at 300 days of age. The mean age at first egg was 109 days with an average egg weight of 49.6 ± 3.7 g. Between 210 and 300 days of age, egg weight increased from 65.0 ± 3.9 g to 67.0 ± 4.2 g and the mean of the number of eggs laid up to 300 days was 161 ± 15.0. Egg length was 59.57 ± 3.01 mm and egg width was 45.02 ± 1.98 mm, leading to a shape index of 1.32 ± 0.08. Egg shell thickness was about 0.31 mm whatever the shell region, and the breaking strength was 28.80 ± 8.29 N. The heritability's estimated using restricted maximum likelihood ( REML: ) methodology were high for egg weights (ranging from 0.43 to 0.61), intermediate for the number of eggs laid (ranging from 0.38 to 0.43), and low for the age at first egg (0.13). Heritability's for egg shell quality traits varied from 0.20 for the breaking strength to 0.44 for egg length, with in-between values of 0.28 for shell thickness and 0.34 for the shape index. The number of eggs laid was not genetically correlated with the age at first egg or egg weight, but was correlated with body weight (rg = +0.54 ± 0.23). High positive correlations were found between egg weight and body weight traits, and both of these traits (except egg weight at first egg) were highly and positively correlated with egg length and width. Breaking strength was genetically correlated with egg shell thickness (rg = +0.54 ± 0.19) and the shape index (rg = +0.71 ± 0.23). These results suggest that an efficient selection strategy could be implemented to improve the egg production of the pure Shan Ma duck line.