MODELOS NÃO LINEARES PARA CURVA DE CRESCIMENTO DE COELHOS NOVA ZELÂNDIA

Abstract

The aim of this study was to adjust different nonlinear models already described and widely tested in the literature, in order to select the most appropriate model to describe the growth of New Zealand White rabbits. Weight data from 600 New Zealand White rabbits from the rabbit breeding program of the Animal Science Department of the Federal University of Viçosa - MG were used. The rabbits were weighed every ten days, i.e., birth weight (BW), weight at 10 days (P10), weight at 20 days (P20), weight at 30 days (P30), weight at 40 days (P40), weight at 50 days (P50), weight at 60 days (P60), weight at 70 days (P70), weight at 80 days (P80), and weight at 90 days (P90). For the nonlinear regression analysis, the von Bertalanffy, Brody, Gompertz, Logistic, Richards and Spline models were used. To evaluate the best model that best fit the data, the following evaluators were used: Percentage of convergence, Coefficient of determination, Adjusted coefficient of determination, Mean squared error of prediction, Akaike information criterion and Bayesian Schwarz criterion. Therefore, the von Bertalanffy nonlinear model stood out as the most appropriate to describe the growth curve pattern of the New Zealand White breed.