Genetic and Phenotypic Correlations Between Feather Pecking Behavior, Stress Response, Immune Response, and Egg Quality Traits in Laying Hens

ABSTRACT The objective of the current study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations among feather pecking (FP) behavior and stress response, im-mune response, and egg quality parameters. These traits have been measured in an F2 cross, coming from a cross between a high and a low FP line of laying hens.Heritabil-ities (h2) of stress response (32 wk), primary immune response to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) (36 wk) and Mycobacterium butyricum (39 wk), and egg quality parameters (35, 44, and 50 wk of age) were calculated. The h2 was 0.05 ± 0.05 (SE) for stress response, 0.15 ± 0.07 for antibody response toKLH, and 0.08 ± 0.06 for antibody (Key words: behavior, chicken, egg quality trait, feather pecking, genetic correlation