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Article History

Received: 1 December 2025

Accepted: 10 June 2026

First Online: 16 June 2026

Declarations

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: This project is in accordance with the German legal and ethical requirements of appropriate procedures. The project was reviewed and approved by the Ethics committee of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), documented under number E-5-25-Nds. All animal work followed relevant national and international animal welfare guidelines.The animals are owned by the breeding company Lohmann Breeders GmbH. Blood samples were collected by the company’s veterinary department as part of routine health monitoring and in strict accordance with applicable animal welfare regulations. Remaining blood material was used for genotyping in this study. All other phenotypic data—daily egg number, egg weight, and a single body weight measurement at 32 weeks of age—were recorded non-invasively as part of the routine breeding program. No procedures caused harm or undue stress to the animals, and no birds were sacrificed.Lohmann Breeders GmbH as well as H&N International GmbH are part of the EW Group GmbH. Senior scientists employed by these companies are co-authors of this study and have consented the use of the animals and their data. Informed consent was obtained from all owners. All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.