SYSTEM OF BREEDING AND SELECTION IN CHICKEN

WHAT IS SELECTION?

Selection may be defined as a process in which certain individuals

in the population preferred for the production of next generation.

OBJECTIVE OF SELECTION IN CHICKEN

•The purpose of animal selection is to identify and select superior

breeding animals which possess a large proportion of superior
genes for a desirable trait, or traits.
 WHAT IS BREEDING IN CHICKEN
Refers to mating for either maintaining /increasing the current flock or
for selecting specific individuals for improvement in one or more
characteristic ( e.g., for sized, weight, egg production, comb type or a
combination of factors
.
OBJECTIVES OF BREEDING IN CHICKEN
To increase annual egg production potential of hen
To increase meat production per broiler
To increase feed conversion efficiency for more egg and meat per
bird
To increase quality of meat and egg
Breed: Refers to group of individuals with a common ancestry and
having similarity in shape, confirmation, growth, temperament,
shell color and breed true to type.

Variety: is a subdivision of breed and is used to differentiated by

plumage color and comb type from other groups of the same breed.

Strain: with in a variety some special characteristics or parameters

are emphasized more to get better results i.e to increase early
maturity, to increase egg production, size of eggs, to improve
weight gain.
 BREEDING PRINCIPLES

Breeding should be purposive and the breeder should know the

purpose of the breeding and the standard to which the birds are to
be bred. It may be for size, weight, egg production, meat quality or
combination of these factor

Breeder stock is maintained by main hatcheries. They practice pure

line breeding. They supply parent lines to franchise hatcheries.
These parent lines are crossed to produce commercial stock.
 CHICKENS
have been developed for different purposes. three general
categories: Laying, meat-producing and dual-purpose breeds.
a) Laying Breeds:
•These breeds are known for their egg-laying capacity. Popular laying
breeds include the White Leghorn, Red Sex Link and Black Sex Link
breeds. A healthy hen will lay eggs for several years. Hens begin to lay
at approximately 16–20 weeks of age and will lay between 20–23
dozen eggs the first year. At 14 months, laying hens usually begin to
molt, the process by which they drop their old feathers and grow new
ones. No eggs are laid during this period. After molting, hens will lay
larger but fewer eggs per year (about 16–18 dozen).
b) Meat Breeds:
•Meat-producing breeds are very efficient at converting feed to
meat, producing approximately one pound of body weight for every
two pounds of feed they eat. A popular meat-producing breed is the
Cornish breed. The Cornish game hen is a cross between the
Cornish and the New Hampshire or Plymouth Rock breeds. Meat-
producing chickens are broad breasted and larger than the laying
breeds. They grow and feather rapidly and will weigh five pounds or
more at eight weeks. Broilers and fryers are butchered at 31/2 to 5
pounds, while a roaster is butchered at 6 to 8 pounds.

world’s most popular breeds of broiler poultry are starbro, plymouth

rock, cornish, sussex, brahma, hy-line, rose broiler, asil, cochin etc.
•c) Dual-Purpose Breeds:
•The dual-purpose breed is the classic backyard chicken. These
breeds are hardy, self-reliant and fairly large bodied. Most lay large
brown-shelled eggs. Examples include Rhode Island Red and New
Hampshire breeds. Some laying and dual-purpose hens tend to get
broody, which means they will want to sit on and hatch eggs.
Because broody hens don’t lay eggs, egg production will be affected.
Consult with your local extension agent or other poultry expert to help
you choose the right breeds.

•Popular dual-purpose breeds for both meat and egg production

are new hampshire, australorp, rhode island red, playmouth etc
 SYSTEM OF BREEDING

(A) RANDOM MATING

Mating of individual without any selection

Used in developing a control population which is
required to compare and measure the effect of other
breeding system
Control population helps to estimate the effects of
the environment which in-turn, helps to estimate the
true genetic gain through any breeding method
 CROSS BREEDING

•Cross breeding is when you breed two chickens of

different breeds.
• This is also a tool used to create new breeds or to
correct problems within a breed. Sometimes cross
breeding is used in heritage breeds that don’t lay
many eggs. Often the heritage breed is crossed
with a high production chicken (like a Leghorn) to
increase egg production. Then the Leghorn traits
are bred back out
 (B) INBREEDING

• Mating between more closely related individual

in a population
• Inbreeding can be consistently carried out for
several generations.
• There are 3 distinct methods:
i. Close breeding
ii.Strain formation
iii.Line inbreeding
 (B) INBREEDING- TYPES

(I) CLOSE BREEDING: Mating between sibs and

parents and progeny. Full sib mating and back
crossing of the progeny to the younger of the
crossing of the progeny of the parents are often
practice.
 (B) INBREEDING- TYPES

(II) STRAIN FORMATION: developing a small

group of animals within a breed and variety with
a special character in view. This is a mild form of
breeding.

Eg. Babcock strain of single Comb White Leghorn

developed to lay heavier eggs.
 (B) INBREEDING- TYPES

(III) LINE BREEDING:this is inbreeding with an

ancestral line and is the most intensive form of
back-crossing.

Line breeding is back crossing to the same parent

for several generation in succession.
 (C) OUTBREEDING
• Opposite of inbreeding.
• Mating of less closely related individuals within the
population.
• Mating between strains or inbred lines are the forms of
outbreeding.
• Types
• (I)2-WAY
• (II)3-WAY
• (III)4-WAY
• (I) SINGLE OR 2- WAY CROSS:
Crossing of two different population
(inbred line, strain or breed) to
reduce a first filial (f1) generation which
is purely for commercial purpose but
not for breeding.
• F1 usually exhibit hybrid vigour
especially when inbred lines are
involved
• Crossing of two inbred lines of the
same breed, its progeny is said to be
in-crossbred.
•(II) THREE-WAY
CROSS: In this method, F 1
crossbred females (AB) are
mated to males of a third line
©, to obtain a F2 progeny
(ABC)
• (III) FOUR WAY OF DOUBLE
CROSS: Crossing of two
different single crosses (AB
and CD) to obtain ABCD
• Practiced for crosses between
inbred lines of low viability
since only a relatively small
number of animals of the lines
A, B, C, D need to be
maintained.
 METHODS OF MATING
• Pairing of a male and a female for the purpose
of reproduction or production of young ones.
• Type :
• A) pen mating
• B) stud mating
• C) artificial insemination
• D) shift system of mating
• E) flock mating
 (D) SHIFT SYSTEM OF MATING

• Mating of male and female in a shift consisting or

1 to 35 days.
• If a male has 6, 12 and 16 female, the
approximate time required to obtain the desired
number of progeny is 33, 17 and 13 days ,
respectively.
 (E) FLOCK MATING

• Keeping large number of hens with cocks in the

ration of 10 heads hen per cock.
• Good to reduce operating cost because of large
number of fowls per unit
• Preferred where the pedigree records are not
maintained.
 LAYER BREEDING STOCK

• Pure line breeding (AXA, BXB)

• Single cross (AXB)
• Two Way Cross (AXB, BXA, CXD, DXC)
• Three Way Cross (ABXC)
• Four Way Cross ( ABXCD) COMMERCIAL
Chicks
 BROILER BREEDER

• Male line • Female line

• Cornish, synthetic • Rock, new Hampshire
population (Cornish, rock, and their strain crosses
Hampshire)
Commercial layer Commercial broiler
• Babcock • Hygrow
• Hyline
• Hubbard
• Bovans
• Deklab • Ross
• Hisex • Cobb-100
• Lohman • Cobb-300
• Poona pearls
• Cobb-400
• Sonali (brown)
• roopali
 Economic traits in breeders
LAYERS BROILERS
• Fertility • Body weight at various age
• Hatchability • Feed efficiency
• Viability • Fertility
• Part and annual egg • Hatchability
production (40,64,72 wks)
• Viability
• Egg quality traits
• Slaughter traits
• Feed efficiency
• persistency