Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Email: d.maharani@ugm.ac.id

Merawang chicken is one local Indonesian chicken that originated from Bangka Belitung Province. This chicken has dual purposes as a meat and egg producer. This research aimed to estimate the repeatability and most probable producing ability (MPPA) of egg weight and one-day-old chick (DOC) weight in Merawang chicken. Around 50-60 Merawang pullets were reared in single bird cages and monitored for egg weight at 36-38 and 56-58 weeks. The eggs were then hatched, and the DOC was weighed. The repeatability was estimated using the linear mixed model (lmm) method in the rptR package. The average egg weight at 36-38 and 56-58 weeks were 46,43±5,44 and 52,14±6,15. Meanwhile, the average DOC weight at 36-38 and 56-58 weeks were 31,92±4,54 and 35,40±4,36. The result showed that at 36-38 and 56-58 weeks, the repeatability of egg weight was 0,77±0,05 and 0,69±0,05, whereas the DOC weight was 0,84±0,04 and 0,64±0,07. The average MPPA ranges based on egg weight and DOC weight were 46,51-52,23 and 31,97-35,52, respectively. The percentages of pullets having MPPA above the average were 38,46%-50,72% (egg weight) and 48,94%-56% (DOC weight). The results from this study can then be used as a basis for selecting Merawang pullet in the population.