BULLETIN No. 215. 



DEPARTMENT OF POULTRY HUSBANDRY. 



PEDIGREE, THE BASIS OF SELECTING BREEDING 

 MALES FOR EGG PRODUCTION/ 



BY F. A. HAYS AND RUBY SANBORX. 



Introduction. 



The practical importance of the selection of breeding males in flocks bred for 

 egg production is much appreciated by poultrymen. Some believe that the ability 

 of hens to make good egg records is more largely traceable to their male ancestors 

 than to their female ancestors. At any rate, the fact is well recognized that the 

 male breeders must be carefully considered in developing a flock uniform for high 

 production. Since actual egg production can be measured only by the females 

 of the flock, other criteria must be emploj^ed in choosing the males. Some breeders 

 prefer to use cockerels, while others make use of yearling or older cocks for breeding; 

 but the merits or demerits of these practices will not be discussed in this paper. 

 The following discussion of data available at the Massachusetts Experiment 

 Station has a bearing on methods of selection that may be applied to both cockerels 

 and cocks (Inherited Production), and other methods that apply only to cocks 

 (Potential Production) . Experimental evidence on the transmission of egg-produc- 

 ing ability through the male is in a confused state at present. 



Pearl, '12, concludes, after studying the inheritance of egg production with 

 several thousand Barred Plymouth Rocks representing thirteen generations: 

 (p. 284) "That the record of egg production or fecundity of a hen is not of itself 

 a criterion of any value whatsoever from which to predict the probable egg produc- 

 tion of her female progeny. An analysis of the records of production of large 

 numbers of birds shows beyond any possibility of doubt that, in general, there is 

 no correlation between the egg production of individuals and either their ancestors 

 or their progeny." Pearl draws the above conclusions because he found no signif- 

 icant biometric correlation between mothers and daughters or between daughters 

 and their female ancestry in egg production. Pearl states, on the other hand, 

 (p. 379), "High fecundity may be inherited by daughters from their sire, inde- 

 pendent of the dam." 



Goodale, '19, believes that egg production is transmitted equally through males 

 and females in Rhode Island Reds. He further crossed Cornish males on Rhode 

 Island Red females and secured winter egg production corresponding with that 

 of his Rhode Island Red flock. 



Lippincott, '20, in discussing the grading up of my)rfgrel flocks by the use of 

 standard-bred cockerels of three breeds, (p. 45), stat«d3 that a pullet's egg produc- 



1 The data included in this bulletin were collected by Dr. H. D. Goodale, until recently in charge of poultry 

 investigations at this Station. All Rhode Island Red fowls bred by the Experiment Station from 1912 to 1921 

 are included, with the following exceptions ■ a small number of birds in an experiment in studying the behavior 

 of broodiness, and a small number of birds in un inbreeding experiment during the year 1921. The flock in- 

 cluded in this report differs from that reported on in Bulletin No. 211 of this Station in that only fowls in the 

 experiment entitled Breeding for Egg Production are reported in Bulletin No. 211. 



