Identification of Two Oviducts in Live Hens

INTRODUCTION POST-MORTEM identification of persistent right oviducts has been reported in two recent studies. Morgan and Kohlmeyer (1957) reported elongated oviducts in hens autopsied from an inbred line of Rhode Island Reds. Winter (1958) reported a high incidence of double oviducts in Black Australorps from two Australian flocks. Inasmuch as the genetics of this inherited double-oviduct condition cannot be profitably studied after the hens are sacrificed, it was deemed desirable to find a method for identifying the persistency in live hens. The technique described herein can be used to identify hens which have long right oviducts. MATERIALS AND METHODS During 1956, 1957 and the first half of 1958, hens were autopsied when they had completed their experimental usefulness. There was no attempt to identify their phenotype before they were killed. Fortyone of the 45 SD-11 hens which were examined had both right and left oviducts. This indicated that most of …