Heritability of live and abdominal fat weights in Coturnix quail.

Twenty-seven single-pair matings of Coturnix quail produced 48 sons and 50 daughters. Parents and progeny were reared under similar conditions and killed at 58 days of age. Live and abdominal fat weights were obtained. Heritability estimates from parent-offspring regressions ranged from .05 to .72 (live weight), .49 to .80 (abdominal fat weight), and .45 to .88 (percent abdominal fat/live weight). The high heritabilities for live weight (except sire-daughter regression) and for abdominal fat in Coturnix quail indicate that a selection method could be used to reduce fat and increase live weight.