Lecture 6: Guest Lecture Dr. Bai Hendrix Genetics Flashcards
Hendrix genetics facts
Organized in 5 species specific business units (layers, turkeys, aquaculture, swine, traditional poultry and BU china
Global operations in 25 countries
What is hybrid turkeys?
Largest primary turkey breeder in the world
Major species of the poultry industry in Canada are?
- Broiler chickens - raised for meat production, 6 weeks slaughter weight
- egg-laying hens - raised for egg production, live to be 1-2 years
- turkey - raised for meat, 11-17 weeks slaughter weight
Why does Hendrix genetics use crossbreeding?
- heterosis - offspring often has traits that are more than the simple addition of the parents traits
- breed/line complementarity - matches the core traits of two breeds to complement the strengths and weaknesses of each other
- crossbreed offspring excels in the positive attributes of both parents
When was hybrid turkeys founded?
1953 by Milo and Ross Shantz
How much does hybrid turkeys supply to canada?
95% of Canadian poultry industry’s genetic stock is by hybrid turkeys
Global markets
Turkey market - stable for past two decades - 680 million processed globally
North America - declined in recent years, 265 million turkeys processed annually
EU - slowly declining, 221 million turkeys processed annually
South America - strong growth in recent decades, 107 million turkeys processed annually
North Africa - growth but small, 33 million turkeys processed annually
What are the top 10 producing countries?
- USA
- Brazil
- Poland
- Germany
- France
- Italy
- Russia
- Spain
- Canada
10.UK
Business structure of hybrid turkeys
Pure lines at top, great grand parents then grandparents and parent stock and commercial products
4 way cross-breed
Sell parent stock and commercial product
GM turkey products
- Hybrid grade maker - medium bird for feed efficiency
- hybrid converter novo - robust bird for average daily gain
- hybrid converter - heavy bird for total system profitability
Traditional turkey products
Cartier
MiniBRONZE
Artisan
Rouge does Ardennes
What has been the genetic progress in turkeys?
1929 - 13 pounds
2007 - (29 pounds) 121% bigger than 1929
Genetic progress in Layers
1960 - 230 eggs per hen per year
2010 - 370 per hen per year
What drives the phenotypic changes in the poultry?
P = G + E + G x E
P - phenotypic value
G - genotypic value
GxE - Genotype-by-environment interaction
E - Environmental deviation
What is selective breeding?
Process of choosing which male and female individuals mature in order to develop a particular phenotypic trait
How did we do selective breeding timeline?
- Before the 60’s selective breeding was done solely based on phenotype (best looking)
E.g. want to breed for biggest animals, pick biggest male and biggest female - Between the 60s and the 80s selection was done through multiple traits phenotypically (calculated selection) (not just one trait anymore)
- Between 80s and 00s selection was done by breeding values (phenotypes and pedigree)
- 00s and 20s selection was done by genomic selection based on DNA (phenotype, pedigree, and genotype)
- 20s and beyond gene editing is going to be done
Turkey production life cycle
- Egg is hatched in the hatchery
- After hatched, sent to the rearing barn, collect phenotypes on traits that we are interested in and also collect genotypes from chicks in rearing barn
- Calculate breeding values in population and select best turkeys to be mated
- Mate them, once they lay the cycle restarts
What does Hendrix genetics select for?
- production efficiency
- product quality
- health and welfare - legs and bone, diseases, aggressiveness
What is the selection environment like?
- pedigree farm is where purelines are kept, selection is done here
- keep as close as possible to clients farms
How are birds traced at the pedigree hatchery?
Wing tag - which traces pedigree
What traits are they collecting at the pedigree farm?
- body weights - 2-3 times per life
- leg quality - scoring system, walking scores
- feed efficiency
- meat yields
Genetic gain formula
g = r x i x gg/L
