Effect of Family Size and Genetic Correlation between Purebred and Crossbred Halfsisters on Response in Crossbred and Purebred Chickens under Modified Reciprocal Recurrent Selection

Response in a modified reciprocal recurrent selection scheme for egg production was evaluated considering variable family sizes and genetic correlation between purebred and crossbred half sisters. The criteria of selection of purebred breeders included pullet's own performance, purebred full and half sisters and crossbred half sister's performance. Heritability of egg production of crossbreds (aggregate genotype) and purebred's was assumed to be 0.2 and genetic correlation between purebred and crossbred half sisters ($r_{pc}$) as 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 1.0, -0.1, -0.2, -0.3, -0.4, -0.5 and -1.0. Number of dams per sire to produce purebred and crossbred progenies assumed to be 5, 6, 7, 8, while number of purebred female progeny ($N_p$) and crossbred progeny ($N_c$) per dam were considered to be 3, 4, 5 and 6 in each case. Considering phenotypic variance as unity, selection indices were constructed for different combinations of dams and progeny for each value of $r_{pc}$. Following selection index theory, response in crossbred and purebred for egg production was computed. Results indicated that response in crossbreds depended mainly on crossbred family size and also on magnitude of$r_{pc}$ irrespective of its direction, and response was greater with large crossbred family size than the purebred families. Correlated response in purebreds depends both on magnitude and direction of $r_{pc}$ and was expected to be greater with large purebred family size only. Inclusion of purebred information increased the accuracy of selection for crossbred response for higher magnitude of$r_{pc}$ irrespective of its direction. Present results indicate that desirable response in both crossbred and purebred performance is a function of $r_{pc}$ and family sizes. The ratio of crossbred and purebred family sizes can be optimized depending on the objective of improving the performance of crossbreds and/or of purebreds.