Exercise 2
Poultry Breeding and
Hatchery Management
Poultry Breeding
OObjectives:
Mating poultry for either
maintaining/increasing the current flock
or for selecting specific individuals for
improvement in one or more
characteristics
for size, weight, egg production, meat
quality, behavior, plumage, comb type,
or a combination of factors
Basic Requirements for
Breeding
O Proper identification of breed
O Performance record of the
animals
Poultry Genetics: Chromosomes
O Gender is determined
genetically by two sex
chromosomes.
O In mammals these are the X
and Y chromosomes,
O males - XY chromosomes
O Females XX
O In mating, parents each
contribute one sex
chromosome.
O Male determines gender
O In birds, sex chromosomes are
Z and W,
O females - ZW chromosomes
O males ZZ
O Female determines gender of
the offspring.
Punnett Diagram
O Make a square
divided into four
quadrants.
Write the genes of one
parent across the top
with one gene over
each quadrant.
Write the genes of the
second parent along
the left side.
In each quadrant write
a gene from each
parent.
Write the gene from
each parent that is
physically nearest the
quadrant you are
presently working in.
POULTRY GENETICS: sex linked
chromosomes
O In addition to determining gender, sex chromosomes
carry genes that can affect other traits, such as
plumage color.
O Genes responsible for sex-linked traits are on the long
sex chromosome, Z, but not the short sex
chromosome, W.
POULTRY GENETICS: sex linked
chromosomes
Result of mating black
rooster X barred hen:
All males barred
All females black
Standard classification of breeds
O Based on Specific Origin:
Asiatic
Mediterranean
English
American
OBased on Genetic Groups (native
chickens):
Batangas
Pangasinan
Bicol
Panay Island
Palawan
Cebu
Based on Utilization:
Meat
Egg
Dual
Fancy
Fighting
Breeds of Chicken Based on
Utilization
EGG Class
O Comparatively small
O
O
O
O
body size
Normally lays large
white-shelled eggs
Very active
Non-sitters
Leghorn, Minorcas,
Anconas, Mikawa
MEAT Class
O Large body size
O Slow movement
O Poorer egg layers
O Generally lay brown
shelled eggs
O Brahmas, Cochin,
Langshans, Cornish,
White Rocks
GENERAL
PURPOSE Class
O Medium sized good
layers
O Young ones are fast
growers
O Not so nervous as egg
class but more active
than meat class
O New Hampshire, Rhode
Island Red, Plymouth
Rock, Lancaster,
Nagoya, Cantonese
FANCY Class
O Beautiful plumage or
form
O Rare unusual
appearance
O Raised as ornamentals
or pets
O Frizzle, Bantams, Long
tailed
Onagadori Cock
FIGHTING Class
O Game fowls
O Claret, OasisRuble, Hulsay,
Schematic diagram of a typical breeding scheme for the production of
commercial hybrid chickens
Step 1. Four pure lines
FS
developed and
multiplied as foundation
stocks (FS) by breeders
Step 2. Grand parental
stocks (GPS) produced
from FS: only one sex of
each line is exported to
local franchises in the
country.
3-5 generations of
inbreeding & selection
GPS
AxB
CxD
Schematic diagram of a typical breeding scheme for the production of
commercial hybrid chickens
Step 3. Parental stock
produced by mating two
grandparental stocks.
May be produced locally
from imported
grandparental stocks.
Step 4. Commercial
hybrids (CH) or
synthetics
PS
AB
CH
ABCD
CD
Mating Methods Commonly
Used in Poultry
O Inbreeding
Mating of individuals
w/c are related by
ancestry
To increase the number
of pair of genes that are
homozygous in an
inbred population
O Used to establish pure line stock w/c is
more uniform and stable
O In the production of CH, FS are subjected
to inter se mating for 3-5 generations to
produce GPS
Mating Methods Commonly
Used in Poultry
O Crossbreeding
O Mating between animals belonging to
established breeds, varieties, or lines
O Increases frequency of heterozygous
individuals at the expense of homozygous
individuals
Mating Methods Commonly
Used in Poultry
O Grading or Upgrading
O Improved males are mated w/ low genetic
quality females
O Improvement in F1 is due to heterosis
O Example: mating of imported male (New
Hampshire) with indigenous or native-type
females
O Usually followed by SELECTION in succeeding
generations
Systems of mating
QUAIL
BROILER BREEDER
LAYER BREEDER
DUCKS
TURKEYS
1 male to every 3-4 females
1 male to every 8-10 females
1 male to every 10-12 females
1 male to every 4-6 females
1 male to every 10 females
Incubation of the Eggs
What is an egg incubator?
O equipment that creates the perfect
conditions for an egg to incubate
successfully
O designed to regulate temperature,
humidity and turn eggs at regular
intervals
O recreates the role that the broody hen
plays in nature
What is a setter incubator?
O For the first three quarters of the incubation
phase of an egg it must be placed in a
setter.
O This is where the eggs are turned on an
hourly basis.
O For chicken eggs this will be the first 18 days
of the eggs incubation cycle.
O After this period the eggs are placed in the
hatcher.
What is a hatcher incubator?
O The hatcher is the part of the incubator
O
O
O
where the eggs lay still for the last quarter of
the incubation phase
humidity is slightly higher at this part of the
incubator due to the fact that eggs require a
higher humidity towards the hatching phase
The hatcher creates a stable environment
for the eggs to hatch in.
No turning of the eggs happens during this
phase
The chick inside the eggs aligns itself so that
it can peck its way out of the shell.
Species
Incubation
Period
Egg Weight (g)
Chicken
21
50-58
Turkey
28
Muscovy Duck
28
Goose
28-34
Quails
17-24
Guinea fowl
28
Ostrich
42
Pigeon
17
85
80
150-200
10-12
40
1000-1900
52-68
Incubator Requirements
Stages of
incubation
Chicken
egg
Mallard Duck
egg
Setting
18 days
25 days
Hatching
3 days
3 days
Methods of Incubation
Natural : mother hen
Artificial :
Still-air or forced draft incubators
Traditional parched-rice method
tuong
Use of broody female Muscovy
Capable of setting 12-15 duck
eggs
Parched
(heated) rice
technique
based on the use of
heated paddy
(unhusked) rice and
embryo-generated heat
Still Air Incubator
O Basically an insulated box consisting of:
heating element
thermostat or temperature controller
egg tray
thermometer to measure the air
temperature
tray for water
hygrometer for humidity measurement
turning mechanism for automatic turning
of eggs
Air inside is circulated by convection
As the air is heated it expands and rises to
the top of the incubator
Forced Draft Incubator
O developed to overcome
temperature gradient
problems throughout the
incubator
O fan is used to circulate the
air
O gives uniform temperature
throughout the machine
Incubator Requirements
Temperature
right temperature to enable the metabolic
processes within the developing embryo
to occur at the correct rate
Hen - 38 oC
Still air (natural draft) - 38.8 oC
Forced draft - 37.2-37.8 oC
Note: High temp is more harmful than low
temp.
Incubator Requirements
Relative Humidity (RH)
55-60%
80%
25%
chicken egg
duck eggs
ostrich eggs
Low RH dry embryo, stick with shell
High RH drowned embryo
Hatchery Activities
Turning
at least 3x/day
improves the development of embryo
to prevent the embryo from sticking to
the shell membranes
Hatchery Activities
Candling
Done to determine the soundness,
quality, and fertility of the eggs
Egg Candling
O To test for fertility
O To remove infertile eggs and eggs w/ dead
embryo
O Usually done in 3 periods:
O 4th or 5th day of incubation
O 13th or 14th day
O 18th day
PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE IN HATCHERIES
Fertility rate
no. of fertile eggs
x 100
total eggs incubated
Hatchability rate
no. of hatched eggs x 100
total eggs incubated
Hatch of fertile
No. of hatched eggs X 100
No. of fertile eggs
What is Embryonic
Mortality?
Embryonic Mortality Rate
O Collected Eggs 10
O Incubated Eggs 9
O Fertile Eggs 6
O Hatched Eggs 5
EMR= [(fertile eggs-hatched eggs)/fertile eggs] x 100
EMR= 16.67%
Hatching Egg Recovery Rate
O Collected Eggs 10
O Incubated Eggs 9
O Fertile Eggs 6
O Hatched Eggs 5
HERR= (eggs incubated/eggs collected) x 100
HERR= 90%
Characteristics of good hatching egg:
O it must be clean
O has no crack or abnormalities in shell formation
O with ideal weight and size
O with ideal shape
O with ideal shell color
Rejects are sold as table egg
Measures of Efficiency
Chick sexing
Table 1
Breed/Genetic Group
1. Banaba
2. Paraoakan
3. Darag
4. Camarines
5. Bolinao
6. Lohmann
7. Cobb
8. Ross
9. Hubbard
10. Bantam
Table 3
O lnitial number of hens at the start of lay: 1,000 Lohmann
Month
January
February
March
April
Breeder Hen
Inventory
1000
990
980
970
No. of eggs
collected
156
288
480
630
No. of good
quality hatching
eggs
108
236
425
603
Table 4
HATCHERY
A
B
No. of eggs
incubated
9800
9800
No. of fertile eggs
9000
9500
No. of hatched eggs
8800
9000
Do not answer items 5 and 6 on page 46
