The Effect of Inbreeding on Some Production Characters in Poultry

ALTHOUGH general agreement exists that inbreeding has a depressing influence on performance, the level of depression for different characters may vary considerably. The effect of inbreeding on various aspects of performance of economic importance does influence the relative emphasis that should be placed on various traits in an inbreeding program. Selection in inbred lines for the purpose of keeping the lines efficient enough for practical utilization would be dictated by the response of the birds to the inbreeding, and the basis for deciding the relative emphasis placed on different characters may be quite different from that in non-inbred populations. It is important then to know something of the quantitative response of the different traits to inbreeding. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effect of inbreeding on the fowl. Dunn (1923), Hays (1924 Hays (1934), Goodale (1927), Jull (1929a, 1929b, 1933), Dumon (1930), Waters and Lambert (1936), and Waters (1945a, 1945b, …