Lecture 6: Guest Lecture Dr. Bai Hendrix Genetics

Question 1

Hendrix genetics facts

Answer 1

Organized in 5 species specific business units (layers, turkeys, aquaculture, swine, traditional poultry and BU china
Global operations in 25 countries

Question 2

What is hybrid turkeys?

Answer 2

Largest primary turkey breeder in the world

Question 3

Major species of the poultry industry in Canada are?

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

Why does Hendrix genetics use crossbreeding?

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

When was hybrid turkeys founded?

Answer 5

1953 by Milo and Ross Shantz

Question 6

How much does hybrid turkeys supply to canada?

Answer 6

95% of Canadian poultry industry’s genetic stock is by hybrid turkeys

Question 7

Global markets

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What are the top 10 producing countries?

Answer 8

1. USA
2. Brazil
3. Poland
4. Germany
5. France
6. Italy
7. Russia
8. Spain
9. Canada
   10.UK

Question 9

Business structure of hybrid turkeys

Answer 9

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

Question 10

GM turkey products

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Traditional turkey products

Answer 11

Cartier
MiniBRONZE
Artisan
Rouge does Ardennes

Question 12

What has been the genetic progress in turkeys?

Answer 12

1929 - 13 pounds
2007 - (29 pounds) 121% bigger than 1929

Question 13

Genetic progress in Layers

Answer 13

1960 - 230 eggs per hen per year
2010 - 370 per hen per year

Question 14

What drives the phenotypic changes in the poultry?

Answer 14

P = G + E + G x E
P - phenotypic value
G - genotypic value
GxE - Genotype-by-environment interaction
E - Environmental deviation

Question 15

What is selective breeding?

Answer 15

Process of choosing which male and female individuals mature in order to develop a particular phenotypic trait

Question 16

How did we do selective breeding timeline?

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

Turkey production life cycle

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

What does Hendrix genetics select for?

Answer 18

• production efficiency
• product quality
• health and welfare - legs and bone, diseases, aggressiveness

Question 19

What is the selection environment like?

Answer 19

• pedigree farm is where purelines are kept, selection is done here
• keep as close as possible to clients farms

Question 20

How are birds traced at the pedigree hatchery?

Answer 20

Wing tag - which traces pedigree

Question 21

What traits are they collecting at the pedigree farm?

Answer 21

• body weights - 2-3 times per life
• leg quality - scoring system, walking scores
• feed efficiency
• meat yields

Question 22

Genetic gain formula

Answer 22

g = r x i x gg/L