Selectively breeding for egg production?

[3littlebirds]

I was wondering- does anyone know how commercial breeding farms select laying hen breeding stock for egg production? The only method I have read about for selecting breeding hens based on laying ability is trap-nesting, but I can't imagine that the big commercial farms would do something so labor-intensive (or maybe they do?). Do they have all the breeding hens in individual battery cages or something so that they can monitor egg output? I'm curious to see if they have some unusual method us backyard chicken keepers could make use of, or if it's something you can only do with battery cages.

Thanks,

Max

 

[ChicKat]

Hi Max,

not sure, and it may differ between different operations, but I think possibly the hatchery business and the egg production business are really two separate things.

I think that maybe the egg producers purchase and grow out chicks from hatcheries (by the 100's or 500's ore even 1000's at a time). They would select from a hatchery breeds known for high egg production. Isa Brown, Gold Sexlink and Leghorns for example. I don't think that at the level they are they hatch their own eggs, and I think that the eggs that go to stores are most likely infertile. Why would they bother with the problems of roosters when they don't need to?? And some folks would be nervous or squeamish about fertile eggs.

so -- back to the question, how does a backyard breeder select for the best egg layers? Lucky me, I have a different color egg from each of my hens. I track on the calendar which hen lays on which day. I also enter my little flock's production on Eggzy... (www.eggzy.net) - sp in return for a couple of minutes per day of data entry on eggzy, I can see the statistics of what my average eggs per week, (each hen is a different breed...so it's extra easy to tell the difference) - I know at a glance 'who is naughty and who is nice'.

If you have a big flock of identical eggs coming in..... you will almost naturally select the most prolific egg layers, because they will have contributed the most eggs to the pot.

Now -- here's a question for you....how do we know the egg laying potential of the rooster? Has to be the rooster's mom (and sisters I guess).

Let us know what approach you decide. I think many of the BYC community are interested in how to breed the best layers...and I think that breed or hybrid is one of the most driect routes to get there.....

 

[nicalandia]

I was wondering- does anyone know how commercial breeding farms select laying hen breeding stock for egg production? The only method I have read about for selecting breeding hens based on laying ability is trap-nesting, but I can't imagine that the big commercial farms would do something so labor-intensive (or maybe they do?). Do they have all the breeding hens in individual battery cages or something so that they can monitor egg output? I'm curious to see if they have some unusual method us backyard chicken keepers could make use of, or if it's something you can only do with battery cages.

Thanks,

Max

they have breeding lines and egg production lines, the best thing you could do is use these end products(production white leghorn) to add more productivity to your breed, that is assuming the breed you want to increase production has similar body size and type(OEG, game fowls)

 

[3riverschick]

how commercial breeding farms select laying hen breeding stock for egg production?
---------------------------------------

Hi,
Try these sources. They are sources the industry used in developing the egg strains in the early days.

The call of the hen; or, The science of the selection and breeding of poultry (1913)
Author: Hogan, Walter, d. 1921
http://archive.org/details/cu31924003144031

Breeding and Culling by Head Points
Author: H.H. Steup, 1928
http://archive.org/details/BreedingAndCullingByHeadPoints
I know of an elite modern breeder using this in his flock and having good success.

Laws governing the breeding of standard fowls; a book covering outbreeding ,
inbreeding and line breeding of all recognized breeds of domestic fowls, with chart, 1912 (1912)
Author: Card, Wetherell Henry, 1860- ( Dan Honours' Uncle's Uncle)
http://archive.org/details/cu31924003158312
A classic on the laws of breeding. What definitely will and won't work. How the
major and minor laws relate to each other and work together. Also laws
according to the color of the poultry being bred.

The Light Sussex.
by Broomhead, William White, 1875-
Published 1921
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003137332
( A classic, an internationally renowned poultry breeder and judge who went on to become
President of the British Poultry Club expounds on the breed and gives the
mathematical measurements for a super layer.)

Best,
Karen
Waterford English Sussex
PA, USA

 

[3riverschick]

While we are on the subject,
One of Judge Broomhead's greatest talents was to take complex poultry matters and simplfiy them for the masses in his writings. He wrote several books. In them he addressed, among other things, mating and breeding...plus capacity and capability. One can have a laying breed, however, if it does not excell in capability and capacity , it will never be a great layer.
In his book Poultry and Profit, (which is an engaging read), Broomhead discusses in Chapter Three, " Breeding and Mating...".
Lots of good advice here. http://tinyurl.com/9cwj9h7
Then there is his book, Poultry breeding and management; a comprehensive and systematic guide to all branches of poultry culture for the novice, the table poultry specialist, the pedigree breeder and fancier, and the commercial egg-farmer ([19--])
http://archive.org/details/cu31924003077199
Chapters of interest here re:
Chapter IV Selecting and mating Stock Fowls Page 64
Chapter VIII The Management and Feeeding of Laying Fowls Page 208
Chapter XII Breeding Fowls for Egg Production Page 407
Chapter XIII The Exhibition Side of Poultry-Keeping Page 433
Chapter XIV Mendelism as Applied to the Breeding of Poultry Page 455
(covers capability and capacity).

Best Regards,
Karen

Definitions:
Capability is a certain ability, the quality of being capable, a potential aptitude.
Capacity is the ability to contain, that is: volume or amount that fits in a certain container for example. The maximum amount that something can contain.

 

[3riverschick]

how to breed close-feathering into one's birds: If one wanted closer feathering;
to improve egg laying by 25 eggs a year per bird and the feathers would become closer along the way.
See this thread: Robert Blosi writing:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/623070/standard-of-perfection/150
======================== Sussex as a dual purpose fowl ============================
My personal thoughts gained from research and reading classic poultry lit, conversing with veteran breeders.
Something here for dual-purpose, meat and egg laying fowls:
I believe when a Sussex fowl is bred to produce both eggs and meat in the proper ratios for the breed..., it more
closely adheres to the breed Standard. In Sussex,
I would much rather have a properly productive bird that needs a little tweaking for the show pen....than a bird which had been bred for extremes for the show pen and not had the proper production foundation laid before hand. I guess what I am saying is that I believe that breeding for proper production ratios in Sussex will take the bird at least 80 % of the way to the show pen by setting proper type for body/head structure and general breed characteristics. .The rest is just minor show points tweaking ( comb, plumage perfection. etc. The icing on the cake.) For instance;
1. Head structure is intimately aligned with laying ability.
2. Body structure is intimately aligned with capacity for egg production.
3. Texture of flesh is intimately aligned with egg production.
4. Closeness of feather is intimately aligned with laying abiliity.
5. Structure of pelvis, which helps determine the body stance of the bird, is intimately aligned with egg production.
6. Keel length and length of back are intimately aligned to meat production and the stance of the bird (proper breed silhouette).
7. Proper length and thickness of shanks is intimately aligned with meat production.
8. Proper width between the legs is intimately aligned with egg and meat production.
9. Color is eye candy. However, making sure color is based on the proper eWh allele helps eliminate the possibility
of foreign blood which could impact the proper capability and capacity ratios for the Sussex breed.
10. Weight of hen is closely aligned to egg production. The best layers in Sussex are at 7 lbs.
Over 7 lbs. , according to classic author Whitehead, egg production starts to decrease.
Best,
Karen

 

[3littlebirds]

Wow- thanks Karen! I have a lot of reading to do. Those look like really interesting sources.

ChicKat- you are right about commercial hatchery breeding being completely separate from industrial egg production. I guess my original question was: how do the hatcheries who breed stock for the industrial farms select their breeding animals? I would imagine that good egg-laying genetics would be really important to egg producers.

 

[3riverschick]

Wow- thanks Karen! I have a lot of reading to do. Those look like really interesting sources.

More than welcome. Lit is my passion.
---------------------------------------------
I guess my original question was: how do the hatcheries who breed stock for the industrial farms select their breeding animals? I would imagine that good egg-laying genetics would be really important to egg producers.

Yes, genetics is important,,however,if the structure of the fowl doesn't support those genetics, the fowl will be unable to produce as its genetics suggest it should. The other side of this coin is the environment of the fowl. The owner needs to make sure it's environment supports the fowl genetic potential.

Then there's the human factor. I once had a flock of Marans from a line which laid well. Raised them from chicks. They started laying and then only like one egg a day from the lot of them. About 6 hens. This went on for a while and despite my efforts, no increase in eggs.

. So I rehomed the whole flock in disgust. All that work for nothing! A month or so later I mentioned to our tenant how I missed a flock and how I had re-homed the flock. The young man replied, "Yeah, I miss them too. I used to go out every morning and collect the eggs for breakfast . They sure were good. I always left one for you".

Lesson learned, things are not always as the seem.

Best,
Karen

 

[Fred's Hens]

The highest producing hens are cranking out the eggs. The lower producing hens, (those who aren't culled), contribute fewer. Over the course of time, 5-10 years, the higher producing hen is going to dominate the gene pool. More and more of the higher producing hens DNA is moving forward. Less and less of the lower producing hen's DNA is moving forward.

So, using large flock breeding, rather than selecting just THIS male to be over THIS female, (as a small, show quality breeder would do) over time, the survival of the fittest principle kicks in. The "fittest" in this case is the productive egg layer. If breed type, body type, proper coloration for the breed, etc tends to suffer? Oh well. The money is made from volume.

The comercial hen houses only use a few strains of commercial layers. The ISA-Hendrix poultry genetics conglomerate provides the commercial hatchery with parent stock and/or fertile eggs. Hy-Line, etc are similar operations.

 

[aoxa]

The highest producing hens are cranking out the eggs.  The lower producing hens, (those who aren't culled), contribute fewer.  Over the course of time, 5-10 years, the higher producing hen is going to dominate the gene pool.  More and more of the higher producing hens DNA is moving forward.  Less and less of the lower producing hen's DNA is moving forward.  

So, using large flock breeding, rather than selecting just THIS male to be over THIS female, (as a small, show quality breeder would do) over time, the survival of the fittest principle kicks in.  The "fittest" in this case is the productive egg layer.    If breed type, body type, proper coloration for the breed, etc tends to suffer?  Oh well.  The money is made from volume.  

The comercial hen houses only use a few strains of commercial layers.  The ISA-Hendrix poultry genetics conglomerate provides the commercial hatchery with parent stock and/or fertile eggs.  Hy-Line, etc are similar operations.

That right there makes sense