Genetic and Environmental Factors Affecting Size of Body and Body Parts of Turkeys

LERNER (1950) drew attention to the need for detailed information in poultry research about non-linear interactions between genotypes and environments and the extent to which they may affect breeding programs. No interaction between strain and ration was found for weights of turkeys by Asmundson and Lerner (1940). Since then, additional results have been accumulating which indicate that, under average conditions, this phenomenon may occur for some traits but not for others, thus leaving in some doubt the practical importance of these interactions in many economic traits in poultry. For example, Gowe and Wakely (1954) found no strain-environment interaction in the egg production of several strains of White Leghorns at 6 different Dominion Experimental Stations across Canada. Johnson and Gowe (1956) reported that, in a similar test for egg quality, involving 8 White Leghorn strains, there was no interaction in the the case of albumen quality and shell strength, although a . . .