Predictability of Body Weight from Live Shank Measurements
I. Michael Lerner · Poultry Science · 1939
THE writer has reported a correlation coefficient of .659±.032 between body weight and live shank length of 311 mature Single Comb White Leghorn females (Lerner 1937a). It has also been recently suggested by Jaap (1938a and b) that the relation of shank length to the cube root of the body weight may be used as a criterion of conformation. It becomes then of interest to examine the relation between these two measurements, particularly with the point of view of utilizing early live shank measurements for prediction of body weight at later ages. Suitable material for this study was found in data recorded at the University of California on live shank length and body weight of a mixed population of Barred Plymouth Rocks and Barred Plymouth Rock × Single Comb White Leghorn crosses. Weights and measurements at the ages of 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks available for 127 males and . . .