Body Weight, Egg Weight, Sexual Maturity and Growth Rate in the Domestic Fowl

NUMEROUS investigations have been conducted in the past few years in an attempt to increase our knowledge of the relationship between body weight, egg weight, and age at first egg in the domestic fowl. Many studies have shown that there is a relationship between these characters, but, because body weights and egg weights have not been taken at the same times, it has been difficult to arrive at conclusions concerning their interrelation. Rhynehart (1929) for example shows that large birds tend to produce fewer second-grade eggs than smaller birds. Atwood (1925) has observed that in White Leghorns the heavier birds laid the larger eggs. Several other authors have corroborated the findings of these two investigators. The things to remember, however, are (1) the time at which the body weights and egg weights were observed, and (2) the ultimate weight of the birds. Mean yearly egg weight is not a satisfactory . . .