Breeding for Egg Quality : I. Heritability and Repeatability of Egg Weight and Its Components

Abstract

SEVERAL factors related to egg quality such as egg size, shell thickness, amount of thick albumen and number of blood spots are known to have a heritable basis. Because of this, many poultry breeders are giving increased attention to the possibility of improvement of egg quality through selection. In order to perfect breeding procedures for the improvement of egg quality, more detailed information concerning the heritable nature of egg quality factors is desirable. In the present report, estimates of the heritability and repeatability of total egg weight, yolk weight, and albumen weight will be given. This is intended as the first of a series of papers dealing with the subject of breeding for egg quality.All of the heritability estimates of total egg weight reported in the literature indicate this character to be highly heritable. Thirteen separate estimates from four different sources cited by Shoffner and Sloan (1948) ranged from …