Egg Quality Genetic Variation and Covariation

THE time lag between the day an egg is laid and the day the housewife breaks open that egg for consumption is a period of continual loss in albumen quality as it is presently defined. While attempts are being made to shorten the span of time in marketing channels and thus reduce the total loss in albumen quality, it appears that few housewives will obtain eggs averaging less than 7 days old. Egg grading stations have begun to demand eggs of a certain minimum albumen quality and some poultry-men have found themselves without a suitable market when their eggs failed to reach this standard. The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to determine the degree to which albumen quality loss is heritable and to study its relationship with other economic traits in the Regional Cornell Control population. For purposes of our investigation albumen quality loss was measured…