CORRELAÇÕES FENOTÍPICAS ENTRE CARACTERÍSTICAS PRODUTIVAS DE TOUROS JOVENS DA RAÇA NELORE AVALIADOS EM PROVAS ZOOTÉCNICAS

This study aimed to estimate the phenotypic correlations between such characteristics as growth, scrotal circumference, carcass evaluated by ultrasound, and the morphological characteristics assessed by visual scores of young Nellore bulls evaluated in individual performance tests. The data obtained from 110 young Nellore bulls, participants in the 1st and 2nd Test of Individual Performance of Bulls, at the Federal University of Uberlândia were used in this study. The contemplated characteristics were daily weight gain (kg/day), initial weight (kg), final weight (kg), initial scrotal circumference (cm), final scrotal circumference (cm), area of Longissimus muscle (cm²), carcass finish (mm), fat thickness (mm), thickness of rump fat (mm), and the morphological characteristics assessed by visual scores such as body structure, early maturity and muscle. There were positive associations of low to medium intensity between all traits evaluated, except among weight characteristics at the beginning and end of the performance tests, and among the fat thickness and thickness of rump fat characteristics with carcass finish. Traits evaluated showed no negative correlations, indicating that these may be placed together in selection indices