Laura, I think that such a study would make a good article for Mother Earth News or similar. I doubt if there is anything in the scientific literature to be found.
If the research is on egg production, a study of Hy-line, Bovans, Dekalb, etc. should be out there. Comparing Barred Rock, Orpington, Chanticleers, etc. - I can't imagine that a research team would undertake such a thing.
One problem, the strains from various hatcheries may be quite variable. Perhaps, ordering a number of breeds from various hatcheries then combining as single-breed flocks and keeping track of production might overcome some of that hatchery variability. (. . . just thinking outloud
)
Sand Hill Preservation lists its breeds by productivity (scroll to the bottom of the page). They say that, "This data is not scientifically collected and cannot be applied to birds obtained from sources other than us." I bet the latter part of that sentence is accurate. However, I also bet that Sand Hill has a pretty good idea how many eggs their flocks are producing. Nevertheless, it is just a list - most eggs to least eggs. Interesting, but it is not much more than that. And, it is
certainly not definitive.
You may want to ask this question over in the "Breeds, Genetics, & Showing" forum. I hope the Sand Hill information helps.
Steve
