The Use of a Paired Mating System for the Maintenance of Experimental Populations of Turkeys

Abstract

If a genetic drift of less than one standard deviation per ten reproductions or generations of selection is considered adequate, thirty-two or more parental pairs appeared to be sufficient for randombred control populations of turkeys. Under the above conditions, thirty-six pairs of parents are adequate for mass selected lines and lines selected on the basis of dam’s performance if selection is not too intense (50% of dams). If intense selection pressure is applied (25% of dams) more parental pairs would be required to prevent excessive genetic drift (>1 σ per 10 generations of selection). When selecting on the basis of individual and family or individual and dam’s performance, more than 36 parental pairs should be used.