Progress Report *Series No. 38 April 1948
AGRICU LTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
of The Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala.
. .*. . . . M. J. Funchess, Director * *
COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE of the AUBURN STRA IN of WHITE LEGHORN
D. F. KING, Poultry Husbandman
6. J. COTTIER, Associate Poultry Husbandman
One of the greatest needs of southern
poultrymen is better bred stock. Improve-
ment in management would accomplish much
toward increasing the profits of average
flocks. However, beyond a certain point,
further progress is impossible without
improvement in the breeding quality of
flocks. It is recognized that chicks in-
herit certain capacities or qualities
that are important from the standpoint
of cash return to the poultryman. Many:
of these qualities are often overlooked
by poultry breeders in their effort to
develop strains that will lay large num-
bers of eggs.
AUBURN STiAli STARTED m 1935
The Alabama Agricultural Experiment
Station since 1935 has had underway a
project designed to develop a strain of
Single Comb White Leghorns that would be
capable of resisting diseases. Though egg
production was an important consideration,
more attention was given to livability
during the first laying year, especially
to prevention of losses caused by fowl
paralysis.
1946 PERFORMANCE TEST
Performance tests were started in the
spring of 1946 to compare the Auburn
Strain with other strains of White Leg-
horns being produced in the State. The
results reported here are for one year
only. However, the study is being con-
tinued, and subsequent reports will be
made.
Five well known breeders were selected,
and orders were placed with each for 200
day-old chicks. When these chicks arrived,
February 1946, they were banded for identi-
fication and were placed in brooders with
chicks of the Auburn Strain. All chicks
were brooded for 3 weeks in batteries. The
pullet chicks were then moved to brooder
rooms having floor brooders, and were con-
fined to the house 
until 10 to 12 weeks
old.
The pullets were placed on range where
they had access to shelters until they
were 155 days old. They were then moved
to laying houses and confined for one
year. No cull birds were removed 
at any
time throughout the entire period. 
All
birds as chicks and later as hens re-
.ceived identical treatment, since they
were run together and fed the same bal-
anced ration.
The pullets were trapnested. The num-
ber of eggs laid by each hen was recorded
for one year after 155 days old. All eggs
laid during the first week in December
were weighed individually, and the average
for each strain was determined from these
weights. Body weight of each hen was re-
corded during February, when the birds
were approximately one year old. All
pullets were tested for pull orum disease
on October 5, 1946 by the plate blood
test.
RESULTS of PERFORMANCE TESTS
Growth mortality. Total mortality dur-
ing the growing period varied from a low
of 12.5 per cent to a high of 38 (Table
1). Although chicks of strains B, C, and
D died at a somewhat similar rate, losses
in the B strain occurred mainly during
the first month, while chicks of C and
D strains died mostly during the second
month. Diseases causing most deaths dur-
ing the growing period were pullorum,
coccidiosis, and fowl paralysis.
Table 1. Mortality During Growing Period
Percentage of
Strain Day-old chicks mortality, I-
_ ... st 19_ . ..~_d. ..
2
Number Per cent
A 200 12.5
B 200 32.5
C 200 36.5
D 200 38.0
E 200 27.0
Total, Average.
A - 1,000 A -E 
29.3
Ajburn 2,966 18.3
Average age at time of first egg. The
age of a pullet when she lays her first
egg is an important factor affecting pro-
fits from the flock. It is generally
believed that Leghorns should be ready
to lay when 5 months old. Any strain that
has been well fed and managed and is not
laying by the time it is 6 months old is
unsatisfactory from this standpoint. Thd
Auburn Strain is considered slightly slow
However, it was considerably superior to
the other strains in this respect (Table
2). The average Auburn bird had laid at
least a dozen eggs before the average bird
of the other strains had begun to lay.
Since all other costs for feed, housing,
and labor were the same, this extra dozen
eggs could be considered a distinct ad-
vantage.
Table 2. Average Age of Pullets At Time
of First Egg
Strain Pullets 155 
Age at time
Number Days
A 73 
183
B 62 204
C 63 208
D 49 
215
E 62 218
Total, Average.
A - E 308 A -S 205.6
Auburn I,441 178
Reactors to pullorum disease. Pullorum,
disease, if present in the breeding 
hen,.
is transferable through the egg to the.
chick. Therefore, it is desirable 
to keep
the breeding flock free of this disease
by blood testing and removing reactors.
All of these strains were relatively free
of this disease except Strain B, Table 3.
This strain also had a rather high mor-
tality among the chicks during the first
month, the period when losses from pul-
lorum are expected.
Table 3. Reactors To Pullorum Disease By
The Whole Blood Plate Method
Strain Reactors, October 5, 1946
Per cent
A 0.0
B 
4.8
C 0.0
0.0
E 1.6
Average.
A - N 1.3
Auburn 
0.1
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Eg weight. Standard large eggs should
average 24 ounces per dozen. Only hens
of the B strain laid eggs of this size,
even though the eggs were weighed in De-
cember after the pullets had been laying
for several months and while the weather
was dool (Table 4). The Auburn Strain 
was
a little better than the average 
for size
of eggs, but slightly under the 
2
4-ounce
standard.
Table 4. Average December Egg Weight
Strain Average weight per dozen
Ounces
A 23.1
B 24.3
C 22.8
D 23.1
E 22.7
Average.
A - I 28.2
Auburn 23.6
(2)
Body weight. Results of previous re-
search work show that Leghorns of medium
size were superior in all-round desira-
bility to either large or small birds.
Leghorn pullets weighing between 
4-% and
4-A pounds were considered of medium size.
Those weighing over 4-4 pounds laid large
but fewer eggs, and were slow maturing.
Pullets that weighed less than 4 pounds
laid the most eggs, but the eggs were usu-
ally small.
In this study, the body weight 
of strain
E was considered 
too light and egg size
was not good (Table 
5). Strain D was also
slightly under weight. All 
other strains
tested were satisfactory 
as to body size.
Strain B bordered on the upper weight lim-
its, laid large eggs, and was quite slow
in maturing. The Auburn Strain was also
close to the upper limits in body weight,
yet it matured quite early.
Table 5. Average Body Weight of Pullets
Strain Pullets weighed Weight per
Number Pounds
A 46 4.22
B 35 4.51
C 23 4.25
D 23 4.03
E 8 3.74
Total, Average.
A - 1 135 A - 1 4.15
Auburn 941 4.46
Adult mortality. Adult mortality is a
very serious problem on all large poultry
farms. Whenever large numbers of chickens
are kept on a small area for several years,
the place becomes rather heavily contami-
nated with parasites and disease organisms.
The birds in this test, although raised
and maintained in sanitary quarters,
were exposed to contaminated conditions
comparable to commercial poultry farms.
It is obvious that the Strains C, D, and
E have not been bred to resist many com-
mon poultry diseases. These strains might
live very well if raised in new buildings
or on an area not previously used for
large numbers of chickens. However, they
(3)
would not be profitable on most commercial
poultry farms. Strains A and B demon-
strated considerable resistance, but not
nearly as great as that displayed by the
Auburn Strain (Table 6).
Table 6. Pullet Mortality From
155 to 520 Days
Strain Pullets 155 Mortality
days. old
Number Per cent
A 73 39.7
B 62 37.1
C 63 71.'4
D 9 '46.9
E 62 82.3
Total, Average,
A - 308 A - E 
55.9
Auburn 1,441 22.1
Production per pullet. The Auburn
Strain laid 34 eggs per pullet more than
the average of other five strains tested.
This increased production, due to breed-
ing was obtained at practically no addi-
tional cost and is sufficient to represent
a good yearly profit per hen during years
when the average Leghorn strain is just
paying for its keep. Strain A also had
a very high production per hen. Strains
B and: C were average, while D and E were
considered rather lacking in the factors
for high egg production. Mortality in
Strain E was so high that livability
appears to be a greater factor than egg
Table 7. Average Number of Eggs Laid Per
Pullet From 155 to 520 Days of Age
Strain Average egg production
Number
A 207.8
B 171.8
C 177.2
D 166.9
E 164.3
Average
9
A - E 177.6
Auburn 211.8
production. Too few of Strain E hens fin-
ished the test to accurately determine
their rate of production. (Table 7).
SUMMARY
Performance tests were started in the-
spring of 1946 to compare strains of White
Leghorns bought from five prominent Ala-
bama breeders with the Auburn Strain
developed by the Alabama Agricultural 
Ex-
periment Station.
In the first test, 520-day period, the
Auburn Strain --
(1) Produced eggs earlier than any of
the five strains.
(2) Was practically free of pullorum
disease as were three of the five
tested strain's.
(3) Produced eggs that were closer to
the 24-ounce weight standard than
four of the five strains.
(4) Ranked second from the standpoint
of low growing mortality, and rank-
ed first by a considerable margin
in low adult mortality.
(5) Produced more eggs per hen than any
of the other five strains.
Summarized in Table 8 are comparisons
of the Auburn strain with the five tested
.strains. In this instance, performance of
100 Auburn female chicks is compared with
that of 100 average female chicks of the
five tested strains during a 155-day grow-
ing period and one year of laying.
In this first test, each of the 100
female chicks of the Auburn strain was
over twice as valuable in total income
as the average chick of the other tested
strains.
Table 8. Comparison Between Auburn Strain And Average Alabama
Leghorns Over a 520-Day Period
Item Auburn Strain : Average of five
Number female baby chicks 100 : 100
Number pullets at 155 days : 87 : 71
Number pullets remaining after
pullorum reactors have been removed : 87 : 70
Number pullets alive at 520 days
(I laying year) : 68 ; 31
Dozen eggs laid by pullets finishing
the laying year : 1,200 : 459
Dozen eggs laid by pullets before
death : 120 : 170
Total dozen eggs produced : 1,320 : 629
Value of eggs at 40* per dozen : $ 528.00 : $251.60
Pounds of meat for sale at end of
laying year : 303 : 129
Value of poultry meat at 25?* per pound : __5-.5 : 32.15
TOTAL VALUE OF PRODUCTS from FLOCKS : $ 603.75 : $283.85
* Assumed price.