The Genetics of Mortality and Survival of Broiler Chicks Infected as Embryos by Subgroup A Rous Sarcoma Virus

A study using two high-performance broiler lines, a synthetic male line (SML) and a synthetic dam line (SDL), was undertaken to investigate the pattern of mortality due to induced liver tumours (LT) and the immune response to subgroup A virus inoculated via the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) route. The distribution patterns of the four possible phenotypes were similar in both sire and dam lines. The occurrence of conversely associated phenotypes was about 30% in both the lines. The percentages of CAM(+) LT(–) and CAM(–) LT(+) were 14.26% and 14.46% in the dam line and 20.0% and 9.57% in the male line. The LT mortality was 30–50% in the birds with low pock counts, whereas it was 80–93% in the birds with high pock counts. The group specific antigen shedding status did not influence death due to LT. In birds in the high pock count group, 98% of deaths due to LT were completed by the sixth week, whereas in those in the low pock count group, death due to LT was spread over 24 weeks. The SDL birds survived better than SML birds in the high pock count groups. In both lines, about 20% of deaths occurred owing to non-specific causes. The average survival time after hatching before death from LT was 26 days, whereas that for non-specific death was 81 days.