PSA: Genomic selection delivers measurable gains in egg weight and shell quality traits
Hy-Line geneticists share benefits of genomic breeding values to evaluate egg quality traits in layers
9 September 2025
2 minute read
By: In a presentation at the 2025 Poultry Science Association annual meeting in mid-July in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, Dr. Petek Settar director of R&D at Hy-Line International, and Dr. Anna Wolc, genomic geneticist at Hy-Line International, traced the arc of poultry genetics from phenotypic selection to cutting-edge genomic tools, and highlighted the transformational impact of genomics on egg quality and production traits.
Historic productivity gains
The results of decades of innovation are striking. In the 1930s, layers produced around 135 eggs annually by 60 weeks of age. Initial improvements came through phenotypic selection, later enhanced by pedigree indexes and the adoption of the BLUP animal model around 1990.
“With the animal model, we got the biggest improvement on the egg numbers. It was almost three eggs a year improvement,” Settar noted.
Then came genomic selection – a newer but highly impactful approach. Combined with phenotypic and pedigree data, genomic information enabled breeders to double egg production levels. “Today it is close to 280eggs at 60 weeks of age,” she said.
To illustrate this growth further, Dr. Anna Wolc presented two real-world examples of how genomics is enhancing traits critical to commercial success: egg weight and shell quality.
Genomic power in practice
Dr. Wolc described a large-scale study involving nearly 40,000 hens and 52,000 genotyped birds. Using a training-validation model across 10 generations, her team focused on early egg weight – a trait linked to marketability – and late-life shell strength, which affects both commercial eggs consumer and hatchability.
Using the ratio of genomic breeding value (GBV) accuracy versus traditional pedigree-based methods, Wolc demonstrated an 80% improvement in predicting direct progeny. For more distant generations, gains soared.
“We see an even bigger advantage of the genomic breeding values for distant relatives with values going up to being more than four times better than the pedigree-based breeding values,” she said.
Strengthening the shell
The second trait Dr. Wolc examined was shell quality, measured as breaking strength. This attribute is essential for preventing cracked eggs, supporting hatchery success and maintaining consumer trust in egg safety.
“Increasing shell strength by one unit of breaking strength decreases the number of damaged table eggs by 0.5% (Tuiskula‐Haavisto et al. 2011),” Dr. Wolc explained.
Plus, shell strength correlates positively with hatchability and negatively with microcrack frequency, making it a valuable target. Again, genomics outperformed traditional prediction methods.
“We still have slightly under 100% gain from using genomics in prediction of progeny,” she said. “But we go all the way up to 500% to 600% gain when we try to predict further generations.”
Looking forward to genetic gains
“The genomic information has improved our understanding of egg quality. We were able to identify genomic regions associated with different egg quality traits – not only the two that I mentioned, but 20 or 30 of them,” said Dr. Wolc,” and the benefits of genomic prediction extend beyond a single generation.”
As both researchers emphasized, genomics has redefined the trajectory of poultry breeding -- not just by improving accuracy of selection, but by enabling precise, efficient and persistent selection for traits that matter to the marketplace.
Sarah Mikesell
Sarah Mikesell grew up on a five-generation family farming operation in Ohio, USA, where her family still farms. She feels extraordinarily lucky to get to do what she loves - write about livestock and crop agriculture. You can find her on LinkedIn.
