2.5 Broiler Breeder Nutrition Flashcards
What is the genetic and breeding structure in the poultry industry?
Primary breeder (pure lines)
GGP
Grandparent stock
Parent stock
Broilers
Processing
Consumers
Broiler breeders
- parents of meat-type chickens
- male line selected for growth traits
- female line selected for reproductive traits
What are broilers a cross of?
A male line (selected for growth traits) and a female line (selected for reproductive traits)
- hybrid vigour = they are superior to their parents
What is the solution to balancing reproduction and growth in broiler breeders?
Feed restriction program to control excessive growth
How are body weight and reproductive fitness correlated?
Inversely correlated
What happens if broiler breeders are fed ad libitum? What is the solution?
If fed ad libitum, become too heavy to reproduce
- skeletal problems
- metabolic problems
- fertility problems
Solution: feed restriction program to control excessive growth
What happens during phase 1-3 of a hen’s BW curve?
Phase 1: Development of skeleton, musculature, digestive system, immune system
Phase 2: Development of reproductive system
Phase 3: Fat deposit
What are the 2 types of feed restriction programs?
- Qualitative feed restriction: diluting feed by adding more fiber
- soybean hulls
- wheat bran
- oat hull
- alfalfa meal
- sugar beet pump
- wheat middlings - Quantitative feed restriction: restricting amount of feed
- daily feed restriction
- skip-a-day feeding
- 4/3 feeding program (4 days fed, 3 days off)
- 5/2 feeding program
What is pullet nutrition a combination of?
Combo of feed formulation and feeding management
- achieve age-specific target BW
- good uniformity
What does “good” pullet nutrition achieve?
Optimum body weight at sexual maturity
- maintain appropriate growth rate
- come into production at an appropriate age
- adequate body stores of nutrients
What are the 4 goal of feed restriction?
- Limit nutrients available for excess body weight without limiting nutrients available for deposit in the egg
- Prevent broiler breeders from reaching their genetic potential
- Limit birds from becoming excessively large
- Body weight uniformity
What are 5 reasons why flock uniformity is important?
- Reduce competition for feed
- Thresholds of BW, Body Composition, Age
- Timing of sexual maturity
- peak production
- Egg production persistency
What are 2 ways of measuring flock uniformity?
- Percentage of birds within 10% of the BW mean
- Coefficient of variation (CV)
What are 4 strategies to increase flock uniformity?
- Grading (separating different BW groups)
- Increase feeder space
- Optimize feed line speed
- Spin/Scatter feeding
Why must you use extreme caution when trying to reduce growth rate?
Can send a negative signal for reproduction
INSTEAD
Don’t let your birds’ metabolism know you have made a change to the feed allocation
- aka small and steady
How is sex-separate feeding acheived?
Male feed line
- feeders too high for females to reach
Female feed line
- feeder openings too narrow for males’ heads
Are mature broiler breeder sexes housed together? Why?
YES
- daily feeding, restricted amount to maintain uniformity and provide nutrients needed for egg production and reproductive activity
- feed once in the morning to encourage mixing
Overweight broiler breeders are at risk for what?
Erratic Oviposition Defective Egg Syndrome (EODES)
- random ovulation
- random oviposition
- excessive large follicle development
- high incidence of multiple-yolked eggs
- high incidence of multiple eggs per day
- shell defects
- high incidence of follicular atresia
What happens to broiler breeder hens fed ad libitum?
Have abnormally high numbers of large follicles
- abnormal ovulation
- interferes with normal egg development
Feed restriction normalizes follicle numbers and increases egg production
What are the symptoms and presumed causes of not enough follicles?
Symptoms:
- normal peak production
- poor persistency (short sequences)
Presumed Causes:
- inadequate light stimulation
- high incidence of atresia
- normal decline in follicle number with age
What are the symptoms and presumed causes of too many follicles?
Symptoms:
- excellent peak production
- poor persistency (short sequences)
- poor shell quality
- high incidence of double-yolked eggs
Presumed Causes:
- birds fed aggressively coming into egg production
- possible light stimulation problems
6 Principles of Breeder Growth Management
- Know your genotype very well
- Know your flock very well
- Avoid sudden large increases in feed intake
- Make feed increases as small and as frequent as possible
- Don’t let your birds’ metabolism know you have made a change to the feed allocation
- Don’t forget, you are managing something you can’t see
Nutrient effects on hen FERTILITY are thought to be what?
Minor
- protein and energy: overfeeding can result in obesity and less likely to MATE
- vitamins and minerals: larger impact on egg production; if hen can produce an egg, it can probably be fertilized
Nutrient effects on hatchability?
- Traditionally thought to be minor in the absence of deficiencies/toxicities
- Birds becoming more sensitive? Higher protein diets reducing hatachability?
Nutrient effects on chick quality?
Nutrigenomics
- indirect effects of nutrient on the next generation
Nutrient effects on rooster fertility?
Protein and energy
- overfeeding can result in obesity
- less likely to mate
- decreased sperm production and viability
Nutrigenomics
- indirect effects of nutrients on the next generation
Nutrient effects on reproduction?
- Changes in genetics
- Nutrigenomics; changes in gene expression in response to diet
