A comparison of purebred and strain-cross New Hampshire hens as dams

Abstract

Two purebred New Hampshire strains and their reciprocal crosses were investigated as dams when mated to White Leghorn sires. Considerable heterosis was found in the strain-cross New Hampshire hens for the production characters measured, and no important reciprocal effects were detected. As no disadvantages were detected in the performance of progeny, it was concluded that appropriately chosen strain-cross hens can be used as a means of increasing the productivity of breeder dams.