Abstract

The B blood group system in chickens was recognized as being highly polymorphic at the time of its initial discovery (B r il e s, M cGibbon and Ir w in , 1948, 1950). Over the next decade the B system was studied in numerous populations both inbred and noninbred. Each population, almost without exception, possessed two or more B alleles. Performance data from several populations revealed that the B blood group genotypes were rather frequently associated with certain physiological traits — primarily hatchability, livability and egg production (for reviews of work during this period see Gilm our, 1960; B r il e s, 1960 and 1964).

W. E Briles

Proceedings of the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Volume 1, Madrid, Spain, 299–306, 1974