Growth of Turkeys.II. Relative Growth of the Tarsometatarsus

Abstract IN RECENT years much attention has been given to measurements of the tarsometatarsus of different species of poultry as a criterion of the comparative length of the bones of different birds and as a criterion of the growth of the skeleton in relation to the growth of the entire body (Lerner, 1941). The length of the tarsometatarsus has also been used to indicate differences in conformation of different strains of turkeys (Jaap, 1938). MATERIALS AND METHODS The problem is to determine whether the relative growth of the shank (tarsometatarsus) differs in the several strains available for study. The stock available comprised three strains of Bronze: A, an ordinary strain of medium-small size; B, an improved, somewhat larger strain; C, a broad-breasted, comparatively large strain—and other varieties with their hybrids as indicated in Table 1. The White and Black-winged Bronze were comparable in mature weight to Bronze Strain B, while . . .