Relationship between genes at the pea and single comb locus and economic traits in broiler chicken

Abstract

Synopsis Six hatches of pedigreed broilers, comprising a total of 7593 birds from 223 Cornish‐type sires, 112 homozygous and 111 heterozygous for pea comb, were used to study the effect of comb type on final weight, frequency of breast blisters and carcass yield. Contrary to results reported in the literature there was no evidence of an association between comb type and broiler growth. Single comb broilers showed a lower incidence of breast blisters than their siblings with pea combs. This difference was highly significant in males and less so in female broilers. It is suggested that this might be another manifestation of the pea comb allele, possibly as a result of structural changes in the skin. For a given weight, females had a significantly lower frequency of breast blisters than males, indicating a direct influence of sex on breast blister formation apart from the immediate effect of body weight. Broilers with pea comb had a slightly better carcass yield than single comb broilers.