GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF EGG PRODUCTION TRAITS IN DOKKI-4 STRAIN 1- CORRELATED RESPONSES HERITABILITY, GENETIC AND PHENOTYPIC CORRELATIONS FOR EGG PRODUCTION AND EGG QUALITY TRAITS.

Dokki-4 is a local strain selected for improving egg number during the first 90 days of laying. Genetic changes were estimated as deviations from its unselected control line per generation. This study was conducted to determine the effect of selection for two generations for egg production and egg quality. The results of selection for egg number during the first 90 days of laying showed:
- Average egg number during the first 90 days of laying of the base, first, and second generation were 43.9, 52.7 and 61.9 eggs for the selected line and 43.6, 44.8 and 46.1 eggs for control line, respectively. The cumulative realized response and expected response after two generations were 15.5 and 5.3 eggs, respectively.
- Selected line pullets matured earlier than those of the control line by -6.9 and -8.7 days for the first and the second generation. Also, the realized cumulative response after tow generations was 7.5 days.
- Average duration period of the first 10 eggs of the base, first and second generations were 26.4, 24.4 and 22.2 days for selected line. The selected pullets decreased in the duration period of first 10 eggs than those of the control line by -2.05 and -2.19 days for the first and second generations.
- Egg number till 45 and till 65 weeks of age were increased in the selected line compared with the control line during two generations by 21.1 and 25.9 eggs respectively.
- Selected line had significantly better egg mass and feed conversion during the first 90 days of laying, till 45 and 65 weeks of age than the control line.