Characteristics of Different

Breeds involved in the

development of Broilers &
Layers
Submmited by HAMİD ALİ MASOOD
Roll no. 58
7th semester 2016-21
DVM FVAS UPR
Commercial Poultry Production
Submmited to Sir Dr. İmran Ahmed Sahb
 Different Breeds involved in development of
Layers
 within the company a large number of pure lines are selected for a variety of traits.
 These lines are crossed in specific com-binations to deliver the parents of commercial laying
hens or commercial broilers.
 A commercial hen or broiler is thus a so-called 4-way cross. Due to the crossing scheme
different capabilities can be combined. And there is a clear, positive effect of heterosis, e.g.
the fact that a hybrid or cross is superior to both parental lines.
 Although there is no public or recent information on the comparison of pure line versus cross
line birds performance available, from the theory and
 the experimental comparisons of over 50 years ago it still can be assumed that cross line hens
perform 10 to 40 percent better than pure line hens.
 The biggest improvements can be seen in the low heritable traits, like liveability and
reproductive traits.
 The Bovans Brown is a highly versatile and robust bird. Combined traits include high peak
production, great laying persistency, and a flat egg weight curve, resulting in top quality dark
brown eggs. The Bovans Brown has excellent feed intake capacity and robustness so that it fully Bovans Brown
expresses genetic potential in multi-age and free range environments. This is an attractive
looking bird that maintains great feather cover. The Bovans Brown is an ideal bird for the
commercial egg producer looking for overall solid performance.
  FREE RANGE COLONY
 Easy to manage in every housing system
Eggs per hen housed to 72 weeks 312 323
 Superior egg production and persistency
Eggs per hen housed to 80 weeks 354 366
 Excellent shell color Average egg size to 72 weeks 63.2g 63.2g
 Strong bottom line results Average egg size to 80 weeks 63.5g 63.5g
Egg mass to 72 weeks 19.8kg 20.4kg
Egg mass to 80 weeks 22.6kg 23.2kg
Average daily feed intake per bird 124g 115g
Body weight at 16 weeks 1920g 1920g
Liveability:    
    Rearing 98% 98%
    Laying period (72 wks.) 94.5% 96.5%
    Laying period (80 wks.) 93.7% 96.0%
 Hyline Brown
 Hyline Brown is the leading egg layer strain available to the market today
and has many key features that make it a popular choice amongst
commercial egg producers.
  
 Key features of the Hyline Brown are:
 * High productivity producing over 350 eggs to 80 weeks
 * Excellent liveability
 * Superior interior egg quality
 * Excellent feed efficiency
 * Very mild temperament
 The Hyline Brown is ideally suited to free-range production. The calm
temperament, excellent feather retention, robust egg shells and
 BLACK AUSTRALORP
 Physical Characteristics large, heavy, soft-feathered fowl with an upright
stance and close-fitting feathers. They have deep bodies and well-
rounded breasts, and they are broad across the shoulders and saddles.
Large males weigh 8.5 to 10 pounds and the large females 6.5 to 8
pounds.
 Temperament good family birds as they are calm and friendly and happy
to be handled. They do well free-range but will tolerate confinement,
providing they are not overcrowded. The large birds are not usually
strong fliers
 Health and Well-being are extremely hardy fowl. They are long-lived, with
a good resistance to most of the common poultry diseases; well-bred
birds are rarely troubled by physical deformities like twisted beaks or bent
toes. They also cope well with low temperatures
 LegHorn White Breed Name
Leghorn Chicken | Breed Profile
Leghorn
 Leghorn chicken is a Mediterranean chicken breed originating in rural Tuscany, in Other Name None

central Italy, Nowadays, white Leghorn chickens are very popular and Breed Purpose Egg Layer

commercially used layer birds in many countries of the world. Friendly, Bears
Confinement well, Calm,
 The French poultry federation divides the breed into four types: the American Breed Temperament
Flighty, Noisy, Shy, Very
Active
white, the English white, the old type (golden-salmon) and the modern type. And
they listed 17 color variants for full-size birds and 14 for bantams. Breed Size Large Fowl
Broodiness Seldom
 Fully grown Leghorn roosters weigh 3.4 kg, hens 2.5 kg, cockerels weigh 2.7– Comb Single Comb

2.95 kg and pullets 2–2.25 kg and for the bantams variety the maximum weight is Climate Tolerance All Climates
Egg Color White
1.02 kg  for the roosters and 0.91 kg for hens (according to the British standard). Egg Size Large
But the Italian standard gives a weight range of 2.4–2.7 kg for roosters, 2.0–2.3 Egg Productivity Very High
Feathered Legs No
kg for hens. Leghorn chicken lay big white eggs and they are among the good
layers. Leghorn hens lay an average of 280 eggs per year and sometimes reaching White Leghorns are
Rarity common other varieties ar
300-320. This chicken breed become mature quickly and they have a very good less common
feed to egg conversion ratio.
 Behavior are very active and efficient foragers. They are always willing to work,
Barred, Black, Blue, Buff,
hunting and scratching. They are prolific layers and rarely go broody and are non- Varieties
Buff Columbian, Dark
Brown, Exchequer, Light
sitters (unless left undisturbed). They lay throughout the year and eggs are white Brown, White, Silver

and are of good size. They grow faster and mature quickly. Leghorn chicks are
very easy to rear and they feather up quickly.
 Orpington
 Characteristics: The Orpington is a large fowl with soft feathering
that masks the true size of the bird. The feathering allows the
endurance of cold temperatures better than other breeds. The
Orpington is considered an active fowl and does well free-range or
confined. Their personality is calm and gentle; however, their docile
disposition leads to bullying by more aggressive breeds. This fowl has
a deep breast with a curved back, short legs with thighs covered by
thick feathering. The Orpington has either a single or rose comb
(depending on the standards of the country), red wattles and white
earlobes. The hen does tend to go broody and is thought to be a good
mother. The hen is a sitter.
 Standard Weight APA Standards:Cock: 10 lbs; Hen: 8 lbs; Cockerel:
8 ½ lbs; Pullet: 7 lbs

Rhode İsland Reds
Characteristics: Rhode Island Reds are a good choice for the small flock owner. Relatively hardy, they are
probably the best egg layers of the dual purpose breeds. Reds handle marginal diets and poor housing conditions
better than other breeds and still continue to produce eggs. They are one of the breeds where exhibition qualities
and production ability can be successfully combined in a single strain. Some "Red" males may be quite
aggressive. They have rectangular, relatively long bodies, typically dark red in color. Avoid using medium or
brick red females for breeding because this is not in keeping with the characteristics of the breed. Black in the
main tail and wing feathers is normal. Most Reds show broodiness, but this characteristic has been partially
eliminated in some of the best egg production strains. The Rose Comb variety tends to be smaller but should be
the same size as the Single Combed variety. The red color fades after long exposure to the sun. They have yellow
shanks.
 Standard Weights:
 APA
 Cock: 8 ½  lbs; Hen: 6 ½  lbs; Cockerel: 7 ½  lbs; Pullet: 5 ½  lbs.
 PC Cock: 3.85 kg; Hen: 2.95 kg; Cockerel: 3.60 kg; Pullet: 2.50 kg
 Varieties: Single Comb, Rose Comb
 Skin Color: Yellow.
 Egg Shell Color: Brown

 Different Breeds involved in development of
Broilers
 Chicken breeds fall into three basic categories -- egg producers, meat birds
and dual-purpose types. Broilers, in the second category, have been
engineered to mature quickly, ready to market as early as 6 weeks of age.
The commercial market depends on just a few broiler breeds or types.
These birds don't make good pets if you're not in the market for meat.
They're not bred for longevity, and size creates issues in older birds.
 A broiler is any chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) that is bred and raised
specifically for meat production.Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight
between four and seven weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach
slaughter weight at approximately 14 weeks of age. Typical broilers have white
feathers and yellowish skin. Broiler or sometimes broiler-fryer also refers
specifically to younger chickens under 2.5 pounds, as compared with the larger
fryers and roasters
 Barred Rock:
 Because of its popularity at Cornell University and the
 University of Guelph, this breed was promoted as a meat
producing bird
 in the early 1900’s. Apart from having only moderate growth
potential
 compared to some other breeds, a subsequent disadvantage was
the
 dark pin feathers associated with its feather color.
 White Plymouth Rock:

 Developed in the New England States in the

 1870’s, this breed was to become the choice for female
lines within
 most breeding programs. Its main advantage was white
plumage, and
 while initially most birds were slow feathering, this
characteristic was
 quickly changed to the fast feathering allele.
New Hampshire
 : Also used on the female side of early broiler breeding
 programs, the New Hampshire had reasonable growth
characteristics
 and good egg production and hatchability. As with the
Barred Rock, its red/brown plumage prevented the breed
from being used exclusively in
 the female lines of commercial programs.
 White Cornish:
 With white feathers and yellow skin the White Cornish
 offered great potential for establishing white feathered broilers in the
 1920’s - 30’s. With relatively short legs and a heavyily muscled broad
 breast, the breed quickly became established as a major contributor to
 the male lines within the breeding programs. Because of relatively poor
 egg production, the Cornish was little used in female lines of the 3 or 4
 way crosses that were to become the most popular breeding systems.
Light Sussex:
 More popular in Europe, the Light Sussex
was somewhat
 comparable to the New Hampshire in the
USA, in providing a breed that
 could be reasonably well used in either male
or female lines.
 Cornish Cross
 The most common type of broiler isn't an actual breed but
is a cross of the white rock and Cornish chickens. Male
Cornish/white rock crosses weigh about 4.5 pounds by
the age of 6 weeks. If kept around five weeks longer, they
weigh in at about 9.5 pounds. Females of this cross,
known as Cornish game hens, grow more slowly,
weighing approximately 2.5 pounds at 5 weeks old. Like
other white-feathered meat birds, their carcasses don't
have discolored areas on the skin because of feather
growth.
 Red Broilers
 Red broilers, or Label Rouge, don't mature as fast as
the Cornish crosses. It takes them twice as long -- 12
weeks -- to reach market size. Males mature at
about 7 pounds and females at 5 pounds. If you want
to raise broilers outdoors instead of in an indoor
facility, red broilers make a good choice. As their
name implies, these birds have feathering of various
shades of red, and some have dark tails. Hens
produce large brown eggs but won't go broody.
 Delaware Broilers
 Developed in the 1940s, Delaware chickens resulted
from crossing Rhode Island Red hens with Barred
Plymouth Rock roosters. At one time, Delawares
were widely used in the broiler industry, but the
Livestock Conservancy -- which monitors rare
breeds -- now lists them as threatened.
 The Delawares' white bodies sport black barring on
their necks and tails. Males mature early, tipping the
scales at 8 pounds; hens are smaller at 6 pounds.
Unlike some other broiler breeds, Delawares are
also useful for small-scale egg production.
Rosambro
 A relatively new breed is the Rosambro, a
chicken resembling a red broiler with faster
growth. Expect a Rosambro to mature
between the ages of 8 to 10 weeks. Other
common meat breeds don't grow as quickly as
broilers.
 Hubbard Broilers
 The main qualities of the Hubbard
CLASSIC Broiler are strong
initial growth coupled with very good
FCR. Its robustness and adaptability
are evident under any temperature
and feed conditions.
References

 Breeding for efficiency in the broiler chicken: A review by Craig William Tallentire
Ilkka Leinone , Ilias Kyriazakis, Nov 2016
 Chicken Breeds and Varieties (A2880), John L. Skinner, University of Wisconsin-Madison
 "Rhode Island Red - Non Industrial Chicken." The Livestock Conservancy. The Livestock
Conservancy, n.d. Web. 07 July 2015.
 Sabrina Schirtzinger, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Knox
County
 Tim McDermott, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hocking
County 
 John L. Skinner University of Wisconsin