Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Experiment Station 



BULLETIN No. 258 December, 1929 



Inbreeding In Relation To 

 Egg Production 



By F A. Hays 



For many years inbreeding has been successfully used in establishing 

 poultry breeds where foundation stock was available only from very 

 diverse sources. In recent years, however, work in this field has been 

 confined largely to flocks of an established breed, and the value of in- 

 breeding from such restricted foundation stock is questionable. The 

 experiment here reported was planned to show the effect of various 

 degrees of inbreeding within a so-called established breed — in this case 

 Rhode Island Reds. 



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AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 



AMHERST, MASS. 



