Art and Science in Breeding: Creating Better Chickens

Chickens are now the most scientifically engineered of livestock. How have the methods used by geneticists differed from those employed by domestic breeders over time? Art and Science in Breeding details the relationship between farm practices and agricultural genetics in poultry breeding from 1850 to 1960.

Margaret E. Derry traces the history and organization of chicken breeding in North America, from craft approaches and breeding as an ‘art,’ to the conflicts that had emerged between tradi...