Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (2): 548-558.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.02.007

• Animal Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Construction and Optimization of Prediction Models for Abdominal Fat Deposition in Adult Hens based on Early Body Size Traits using Machine Learning

YANG Miaomiao(), XIE Li, JIAN Baoyi, LUO Chaowei, XIE Zhuojun, ZHU Piao, ZHOU Tianri, LI Hua, XIANG Hai*()   

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Design and Precise Breeding, School of Animal Science and Technology, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China
  • Received:2024-05-27 Online:2025-02-23 Published:2025-02-26
  • Contact: XIANG Hai E-mail:1079278298@qq.com;xh@fosu.edu.cn

Abstract:

In order to investigate a live, non-invasive, simple, and efficient method for the assessment of abdominal fat deposition traits and selection of hens, the present study took Qingyuan partridge chickens as research object and combined the multiple body size trait selection method with eight machine learning models to construct regression prediction models and classification prediction models for the abdominal fat deposition of hens at different days of age. Using multiple early body size traits at various ages between 58 and 136 days of age combined with machine learning methods, the accuracy of body size traits at different ages in predicting abdominal fat content of adult Qingyuan partridge hens did not show significant differences. The RF model had the best prediction effect for regression prediction, with a fitting effect of R2 of 0.821-0.861 and a prediction error MAE of 6.32-7.27. In terms of classification prediction, the Bagging model exhibited superior performance in both binary and tertiary classification. The binary classification accuracy ACC reached 94.54% to 100%, while the tertiary classification accuracy ACC reached 99.58% to 100%. In this study, live prediction models for abdominal fat deposition in high-quality chickens were established and optimized based on machine learning. These models can serve as a technical foundation for early live selection on abdominal fat deposition and breeding of high-quality chickens as well as for the exploration of the related technology for the construction of prediction models for abdominal fat content.

Key words: chicken, abdominal fat deposition, early body size traits, machine learning, prediction model

CLC Number: