Relationship between plasma concentration of luteinising hormone and intensity of lay in the domestic hen

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
1. The concentration of plasma luteinising hormone (LH) in samples taken at frequent intervals from 6 weeks of age until the onset of lay, and also at 9 months after the onset of lay, was significantly greater in hens with a high rate of egg production than in comparatively poor layers. 2. The difference was most marked during the period 7 to 9 weeks of age when there was a transient increase in plasma LH in hens that subsequently had a high rate of egg production, while LH concentration remained stable in comparatively poor layers. 3. The concentration of LH in plasma, particularly at 7 to 9 weeks of age, before gonadal growth, or during the prepubertal peak of LH secretion, at about 2 to 4 weeks before the onset of lay, may be a useful criterion in the selection of laying strains.