In the wild, females choose males with potential good genes to increase their reproductive success in terms of attractive sons and, in the long run, more descendants. Whether this is true of domesticated species is yet uncertain. Our experiments demonstrate breed-specific mate choice among domesticated chickens. Sexually mature females of a traditional domestic chicken breed, White Crested Poli...

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether taurine supplementation to laying hens would influence laying performance. In Experiment 1, a total of 120 White Leghorn hens were fed diets supplemented with 0, 0.25, or 0.5% taurine for 5 wk. Egg weight was reduced significantly by supplementing 0.25 and 0.5% taurine; however, taurine did not affect other laying performance variables. In Exp...