Studies of the Relationship Between Fertility and the Gene for Rose Comb in the Domestic Fowl

THE reproductive ability of White Wyandotte domestic fowl has been known for many years to be characteristically lower than that of most other breeds and varieties. Hindhaugh (1932) reported that the low average fertility of the breed was due not to the poor performance of all individuals, but to the very low fertility of a few birds which depressed the average for the entire stock. Hutt (1940) was the first to demonstrate conclusively that the reproductive ability of White Wyandottes was subnormal in relation to that of some other breeds. The problem of Wyandotte reproduction was also recognized by Munro (1946) who attempted to show that breeding results could be markedly affected by environment. He concluded that under certain environmental conditions, the breed would give excellent reproduction. Rose comb, which is a breed characteristic of Wyandottes, results from the action of a completely dominant autosomal gene, R. The recessive allele,…