Genetic adaptation of white leghorn hens to life in single cages

Lowry, Dorothy C.; Abplanalp, Hans

doi:10.1080/00071667008415797

Cited by 19 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…TheG X E interactions associated with very different laying-house environments have also been found. Differences in social dominance and competitive feeding ability of genetic stocks were apparently responsible for such interactions when dissimilar stocks were kept together or separately (Tindell and Craig, 1959;Lowry and Abplanalp, 1970). Differences in aggressive behavior, apparently associated with differences in social stress, may have been responsible for the G x E interactions for performance traits of White Leghorn strain pullets kept in separated-strain floor pens vs. cages by Craig (1970) and Biswas and Craig (1970).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Evaluation of Egg-Laying Strains of Chickens in Different Housing Environments: Role of Genotype by Environment Interactions ,

Lee

Craig

1981

Poultry Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Relative performance levels were compared for White Leghorn pullets of a selected and an unselected control strain in different laying-house environments in each of two experiments. Experiment 1 involved single-bird cages, separated-strain flocks in floor pens, and intermingled-strain flocks in floor pens. In addition, Experiment 2 included a three-bird cage environment. Genotype by environment interactions were detected in Experiment 1 for egg and body weights and in Experiment 2 for rate of lay after sexual maturity, livability, egg weight, hen-housed rate of lay, egg mass, body weight, and body weight gain. Although fewer genotype by environment interactions were found in Experiment 1, there was a distinct tendency for the strains to differ (or fail to differ) in similar ways in each of the three environments compared in the two experiments.Pullets of the more aggressive and socially dominant selected strain were generally superior in performance to unselected strain pullets when they were intermingled in floor pens, but those differences tended to disappear when pullets of the two strains were kept in separated-strain flocks. These results are taken as indirect evidence supporting the conclusion that differences in stress associated with the social environment may contribute to genotype by housing environment interactions for performance traits.Selected strain pullets generally were superior to unselected strain pullets when kept in cages with unlimited feed available. Unselected strain pullets put on excessive weight in cages as indicated by both linear and curvilinear regression analyses; the lighter the pullets were in body weight the greater the number of eggs laid after 40 weeks old. However, under the same conditions, selected strain pullets were, on the average, near optimal body weight for maximum egg production during the latter part of the laying year. (

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Evaluation of Egg-Laying Strains of Chickens in Different Housing Environments: Role of Genotype by Environment Interactions ,

Lee

Craig

1981

Poultry Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…82-88-j, Department of Animal Sciences and Industry and of Statistics, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, KS. to those selected in single-hen cages (Lowry and Abplanalp, 1970) or to unselected controls (Lowry and Abplanalp, 1972;Craig et al, 1975;Lee and Craig, 1981a). Earlier sexual maturity, even when produced by selection of pullets kept in single-bird cages (Bohren et al, 1981) also is associated with increased ability to be socially dominant during adolescence, but such ability to dominate strange hens may not persist into the stage of full maturity (Bhagwat and Craig, 1977).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Selection for Egg Mass in Different Social Environments

et al. 1982

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Selection for part-year egg mass was carried out in replicated strains of White Leghorns within each of two social environments. Responses were measured as deviations from replicated, unselected control strains. Realized heritabilities averaged .17 over the seven generations studied. Selection appeared to be equally effective when based on sire-family means whether sire families were separately housed or intermingled in floor-flock environments. Egg mass, measured as daily grams of egg produced per hen housed, increased as much for the full-year period as for the selection period, which began when pullets were 30 weeks old. Correlated responses occurred in terms of decreased age at sexual maturity, increased egg weight, and increased hen-housed rate of lay. Random genetic drift appeared to influence all traits studied.Relatively spacious floor pens and individual-hen cages were associated with essentially equal overall productivity, but 18-hen colony cages were stressful as indicated by large reductions in partand full-year egg mass, hen-housed rate of lay, percentage survival, and by increased age at sexual maturity. Adaptability to specific laying-house environments was not differentially influenced by selection on the basis of sire-family means when families were separately housed or intermingled in floor pens. (

show abstract

“…Genotype-by-housing-environment interactions (GE) are fairly common for egg production traits (Gowe, 1956;Bailey et al, 1959;Cook and Dembnicki, 1966; Elmslie et al, 1966;Wilson et al, 1967;Fowler and Quisenberry, 1970;Biswas and Craig, 1970;and Lowry and Abplanalp, 1970). However, several workers (e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Effects of Strain, Age at Flock Assembly, and Cage Arrangement on Behavior and Productivity in White Leghorn Type Chickens , ,

1972

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

TURKEY MEAT MYOGLOBIN 1943 Brown, W. D., and A. Dolev, 1936b. Effect of freezing on autoxidation of oxymyoglobin solutions. J. Food Sci. 28: 211. Butler, O. D., L. J. Bratzler and W. L. Mailman, 19S3. The effect of bacteria on the color of prepackaged retail beef cuts. Food Technol. 7: 397. Kiese, M., and H. Kaeske, 1942. Verbindungen des Muskelhaimoglobins. Bioshem. 2, 312: 121. Quinn, J. R., and A. M. Pearson, 1964. Characterization studies of three myoglobin fractions from bovine muscle. J. Food Sci. 29: 429. Snyder, H. E., and J. C. Ayres, 1961. The autoxidation of crystallized beef myoglobin. J. Food Sci. 26:469.cages to reduce production costs. In general, crowding decreases egg production and increases mortality. Evidence provided by Tindell and Craig (1959), Craig and Toth (1969), Biswas and Craig (1970), and Lowry and Abplanalp (1970) suggests that differences between genetic stocks in competitive and agonistic behavior may significantly influence productivity of laying hens and be a primary cause of genotype by laying house environment interactions.Reported here are estimated effects of genetic stock, cage shape, water placement, ABSTRACTOne experimental and four commercial egg-laying strains of White Leghorn type were subjected in colony cages to different cage shapes, water placement, feeder space, and age at flock assembly to estimate genetic and environmental effects on social behavior and egg production. The cage house used was an environmentally improved type with 180 cages in 3 rows. Pullets were housed at three ages (17, 18i, and 20 weeks). Each cage had 14 birds and identical floor space per bird in all treatments. Data on agonistic behavior, age at sexual maturity, rate of lay, hen-day production, hen-housed production, and survival were analyzed.The results indicated marked differences in agonistic activity among commercial strains. One commercial strain's agonistic activity was less than that of the experiment strain, which had been intensively selected for low social dominance. Strains also differed significantly for age at sexual maturity, rate of lay, hen-day production, hen-housed production, and mortality. The commercial strain with least severe and lowest frequency of agonistic behavior also had highest hen-housed production and survival percentage. Whether a cause-and-effect relationship exists is not known. Cage shape, water placement, amount of feeder space, and age at assembly had significant effects on hen-housed production and survival but no single variable could be conclusively credited because more than one variable among treatments confounded results.

show abstract

Genetic adaptation of white leghorn hens to life in single cages

Cited by 19 publications

References 4 publications

Evaluation of Egg-Laying Strains of Chickens in Different Housing Environments: Role of Genotype by Environment Interactions ,

Evaluation of Egg-Laying Strains of Chickens in Different Housing Environments: Role of Genotype by Environment Interactions ,

Selection for Egg Mass in Different Social Environments

Effects of Strain, Age at Flock Assembly, and Cage Arrangement on Behavior and Productivity in White Leghorn Type Chickens , ,

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About