Inbreeding effects on reproductive traits in the ring-necked pheasant

Ten inbred lines of Ring-necked pheasants were established in 1978 and mated for four generations using a system of repeated backcrossing of daughters to a common sire. In the event the old sire died, the surviving daughters were mated to a surviving brother or half-brother of the same generation. Only 4 of 10 original inbred lines survived four generations of backcrossing; two involved matings with the original sire and two with brothers or half-brothers of Generations 1 and 3, respectively. Egg production, hatchability, and viability were the three traits most affected by inbreeding depression. For 4 generations of inbreeding, the coefficients of regression for all inbred lines on a 10% increase in inbreeding were -5.89, -.42, -1.73, and -3.04 for egg production, egg weight, fertility, and hatchability, respectively. Inbreeding had less severe effects on reproductive traits in two of the four surviving lines. There is evidence that intense early selection among lines for high performance after one generation of inbreeding F = .250 will enhance the success of establishing highly viable inbred lines of pheasants.