Genetics of the Fowl is still the most useful work on poultry genetics. Just the last chapter, "Genetics in Practice," provides the best introduction to successful poultry breeding ever written, covering the difference between breeding for dominant vs. recessive characteristics, individual selection vs. progeny testing, inbreeding vs. crossing, and much more.
F. B. Hutt was sympathetic to the needs of practical farmers, show breeders, and researchers, so this book is far more than a compendium of genes, and yet this aspect is covered in loving detail. Chapters include the genetics of plumage, egg production, body type, disease resistance, and much more, with many illustrations and examples of how the genes work in practice.
Other works have come and gone since Genetics of the Fowl's first publication in 1949 (most notably R. D. Crawford's 1990 Poultry Breeding and Genetics, now out of print, for which Hutt himself wrote the preface at the age of 91), but Genetics of the Fowl is still the first book everyone should read on poultry genetics. New information has come to light since its publication, but it builds upon the solid foundation laid down by Hutt.
This Norton Creek Press book is an exact reproduction of the original edition.
