Genetic effects of ageing on fertility and hatchability in the first laying cycle of three white leghorn strains and their two-way crosses.

1. Fertility and hatchability of 3 White Leghorn strains and their 2-way crosses were examined in the 1st laying cycle to evaluate the effects of ageing on mean heterosis, reciprocal effects, additive (A), Z-chromosomne (Z) and heterotic effects (H), as well as on their variances. 2. Fertility and hatchability were evaluated at 37, 47 and 70 weeks of age for hens housed 1 per cage in a randomised block design. The mean heterosis was significant over time and increased with advancing age for both traits. Reciprocal effects were not significant across periods and did not show a consistent trend with age. 3. The pattern of age changes in A, Z and H effects varied among strains, indicating genotypic differences in response to ageing. The additive, heterotic, environmental and phenotypic variances increased at the end of the cycle for both traits, except for the additive variance of hatchability, which increased until 47 weeks of age but declined thereafter. 4. Heritability increased with age for fertility but did not show a consistent pattern across the cycle for hatchability. Genetic variance for fertility and hatchability increased at the end of the cycle, stggesting that improvement in performance during the 1st production cycle of layers could be achieved by selecting animals at older ages.