Breeding for Low Fecundity in the Fowl with the Aid of the Progeny Test

HISTORY OF THE EXPERIMENT IT WAS apparently recognized by Woods (1908), director of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, as long ago as 1898 that an increase in annual egg production is not convincing evidence that genetic selection for high fecundity is effective, unless selection for low production is practiced concurrently so that the effects of changes in housing, feeding, and other details of management can be evaluated. Two experiments were therefore planned in which the effectiveness of selection for either high or low egg production could be studied at the Maine station. The first was designed to improve egg production by selecting as breeders females which laid 150 eggs or more, and males whose dams laid more than 200 eggs during their first year of production. This experiment was conducted by Professor Gowell during the nine years beginning in 1898. The results were disappointing; the general level of egg production . . .