Poultry Flashcards
Galliformes
Chicken, Turkey
Anatidae
Duck, Goose
Ancestor and domestication CHICKEN
Red junglefowl China 5400 B.C.
Ancestor and domestication TURKEY
Wild turkey, Mexico 1000 B.C.
Ancestor and domestication DUCK
Mallard duck, China 2500 B.C.
Ancestor and domestication GOOSE
Greylag/Swan goose, China 2500 B.C.
Microev changes of chicken
Inc size, weight Breast hypertrophy Large phenotypic variability Changes to limb musculature High fertility and prolificacy Eliminated broodiness Fast growth
Cock/Rooster
Adult male
Cockrel
Young male
Capon
Castrated male
Genetic diseases, embryonic losses
Lethal mutations Sticky embryo Malformations: 1. Chondrodystrophy 2. Poly/hypodactyly 3. Wingless or limbless
Genetic diseases, hatching
Tremor, naked, beak malformation
Genetic diseases, adult
Cardiomyopathy Stress syndrome (turkey especially) Aorta rupture (also turkey)
Defects as conformational traits
Frizzleness (dosis, hetero good) Naked neck (Turken) Crested (Augsburg) Tailless (Araucanas) Dwarfism (Z-linked) Polydactylia (Dorking, silkies) Tuft Chondrodystrophia
What is interesting about chondrodystrophia
Homozygote: lethal
Heterozygote: increased egg production
At what age does a chicken start to lay eggs?
Approx 22 weeks
When is a cockerel mature?
4-5 months
How often is an egg layed
One a day
How many eggs does a good laying hen lay?
What would an average chicken lay 100 years ago?
300 per life,
80-150 per year
What is moulting
After 12 months of laying eggs, the chicken will moult
This means they lose their feathers and don’t lay any eggs to regenerate their reproductive systems. Farmers can take away food for 2 weeks to force the moulting so the chicken can start laying eggs again
Describe the female avian reproductive system
Ovaries Infundibulum (yolk, fertilization) Magnum (50% albumen) Isthmus (shell membrane) Uterus (40% albumen, shell + cuticle) Vagina Cloaca
Give some features of the male avian reproductive system
Testicles inside abd cavity, in front of kidneys
Vas deferens goes to cloaca
Breeding goal of laying hen?
Strong hen
High egg quality
High number off eggs layed
Minimal broodiness
What are some egg production traits
Time of puberty and maturity Relative and absolute egg production First year production Feed conversion and efficiency Eqq quality Broodiness
Give 5 laying hens
Rhode Island Red Leghorn (only white egg producer) New Hampshire (White Cornish) (Plymouth Rock)
4 breeding methods of laying hens
AI
Stud/Hand
Harem
Mass/Flock
Layer hen hybridization:
Describe RRS
Recurrent reciprocal selection
Test crossing: ABCD
Best combination used, rest culled
2 phases of egg production
Rearing (up to 17 weeks)
Heat, water and temp is controlled
Laying (from week 18)
Describe the lighting program for laying hens
Week 1-18: decreasing from 23 hrs to 9 hrs
Week 19-23: increasing from 10 to 14 hrs
Week 24+: 14 hrs constant
What is the reason for using lighting programs
In nature, the chicken would only lay eggs in summer, therefore they must be tricked to thinking its summer
What is the broiler chicken breeding goal
Economic bird (effective growth, feed conversion, healthy)