Breeding for increased egg production: question

[megcpat]

I am reading "The Mating and Breeding of Poultry" Harry M. Lamon and Rob R. Slocum, 1920. Great book, but there are a few times in the book when the author says something like ....."it is still just a theory" or "there are two schools of thought on the matter." In the section on breeding for increased egg production the author states that according to one prominent researcher, the genes for egg laying ability are inherited by the rooster from both the dam and the sire, but pullets can only inherit this trait from their fathers. He then goes on to say that there are many other breeders, however, who do not agree with this conclusion. So, 90 years later, do we understand any better how the genetics for egg laying ability behave in the breeding pen? Thanks for any info you can bring to the table.

 

[joletabey]

I wouldn't mind knowing about this, too!

 

[NYREDS]

I am not by any streach of teh imagination a genetics expert. However, I do know that ROP [record of production] breeders used trap nests to record female productivity & used these productivity records to select females for breeding.
My gut tells me that since it;s the females that produce the eggs it makes the most sense to breed from productive females to increase egg production.
That's my opinion which along with $1 will get you a small coffe at McDonalds.

 

[megcpat]

I'll take the coffee!! It's cold over here..... I'm not sure that it would change that much about how we breed for increased egg production..... If the theory is correct, then trap nesting to find the hens who lay the greatest numbers is still valuable; the hens who lay the most should be bred so that the roosters of that mating are likely to create great laying daughters. Then, roosters who's daughters lay wonderfully would be mated to hens who lay great and the roosters from that mating would have an awesome chance of siring great laying hens. So, If I'm thinking this out right, then either way, whether the genes are passed through the male line or the female line, we still breed the best of the roosters to the best of the hens and I think it all pretty much comes out in the wash...... I think.... Still, I'm super curious to know which way it works.