ArticlePoultry science2026
Preliminary estimates of genetic parameters for bone geometry, strength, and metabolism traits and their relationship with walking ability in turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo).
Article in Poultry science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Impaired walking ability is a persistent concern in commercial turkeys, affecting both animal welfare and productivity. Although bone geometry, strength, and metabolism contribute to overall walking ability, the genetic background of these traits remains poorly characterized. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to estimate genomic-based variance components and genetic parameters for bone geometry, strength to fracture, and collagen turnover metabolism, and to evaluate their relationship with walking ability in domestic turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Phenotypic data were collected from 722 male turkeys raised under experimental conditions across three repetitions. Birds were sampled at either 8, 12, and 18-19 weeks of age, and traits related to bone geometry and bone strength were measured. Bone geometry traits included weight, length, midpoint, anterior-posterior diameter, and medial-lateral diameter; and bone strength traits included peak force and work to fracture, which were recorded for the femur (n = 339), tibia (n = 177), and humerus (n = 167). Additionally, a collagen turn-over marker, pyridinoline (PYD) and welfare-related traits with repeated records, including gait score (GS; n = 2,215), footpad lesions (n = 2,216), head lesions (n = 2,216), and body weight (BW; n = 704) were also collected. All 722 birds were genotyped using a SNP chip panel containing 13,491 SNPs after quality control. Variance components were estimated using Bayesian animal models via Gibbs sampling in the GIBBSF90+ software. Heritability estimates across bone traits ranged from 0.11 ± 0.08 to 0.48 ± 0.27 for bone geometry traits and from 0.09 ± 0.08 to 0.29 ± 0.25 for bone strength traits. PYD presented a heritability of 0.17 ± 0.10. Our preliminary results suggest that bone geometry is moderately heritable with variable genetic correlations with bone strength, suggesting that geometry-based selection alone could be insufficient for improving skeletal health in turkeys. The preliminary estimates of heritability and phenotypic correlations observed for PYD suggest its potential as a phenotype to enhance selection for skeletal integrity in turkeys. However, future research using larger sample sizes and diverse turkey populations is recommended to validate these findings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.