Breeds and breeding

Domesticated chickens originate from the red jungle-fowl (formerly known as the Bankiva or Bankiva fowl) and some other wild species in Southeast Asia. From there, domesticated animals were brought to the entire world by tradesmen and sailors. Over time, domestication and breeding resulted in many distinct breeds that vary in colour, size and other traits such as performance.

In high-producing intensive systems, but also on many specialised organic farms, hybrid chickens are commonly used. Most hybrids are specialised either in egg production or for meat production.

While hybrid layer hens lay up to 330 eggs per year, their roosters are not good for meat production, as they gain weight very slowly and thus need much feed and time to reach slaughter weight. So far, the common practice was (or still is) to kill the male chicks of hybrid laying breeds right after hatch. In some countries, they are sold to small-scale producers at a low cost.

On the other side, broiler hybrids have a very high weight gain, but aren’t suitable for egg production. They grow so fast that they have difficulty walking and surviving until reproduction. In the last years, dual-purpose hybrids have been bred by some breeding companies. The hens of these hybrid chickens lay slightly less and sometimes smaller eggs, while the roosters grow a bit slower, but are still very good for meat production.

All hybrids have in common that their feed ration needs to be properly formulated to fulfil their special needs, and management needs to be very good so that they reach their production potential.

Most hybrids are bred in cages (not allowed in organic farming). Their husbandry in environments of organic farms and in regions with climates other than temperate conditions may be challenging. Nevertheless, some breeding companies offer parent stocks to produce dual-purpose chickens for a variety of climatic conditions as found on the African continent.

Hybrid chickens are bred from four different highly selected grandparent lines. They have been selected for maximum performance. A few large companies developed the hybrids and own the grandparent stock. If a farmer breeds with hybrids, the offspring will not have the same performance as the parents. Therefore, new hybrid chicks have to be bought for each batch.

A good option to increase performance in chickens is the use of cross-breeds. For breeding cross-breeds, two different pure breeds are taken. The advantages compared to hybrids are that the pure breeds are not owned by companies, and that one can select breeds as parent stock that suit specific needs and are well-adapted to the local conditions. Similar to hybrids, offspring of cross-breeds often shows better performance than the parent breeds.

Important traits for organic chickens are, for example, a good tolerance to changing feed quality and good suitability for the outdoor run. Furthermore, the breeds should perform well under the prevailing climatic conditions.

For cross-breeding pure breeds, both pure breed lines must be available for breeding of each batch. Generally, a flock of the mother line is reared, whereas the father line is brought in with changing roosters from other breeders.

When cross-breeding, one must know that good performance of the offspring is not guaranteed. For good results, parent stocks need to be chosen with consideration, and performance of the offspring must be documented in order to find suitable combinations for specific needs. Furthermore, breeding efforts are also required for the parent breeds, if one wants to further increase the performance of a preferred cross-breed.

Successful selection requires many chickens and generations. Therefore, it is advisable to join forces with other chicken farmers or – if available – to buy chicks from professional breeders in the region.

Another option for farmers is to start with a well-adapted and well-performing indigenous breed and cross-breed it with changing well-performing dual-purpose breeds, meaning by using roosters from different breeds every one or two years. This increases the chance of better offspring performance (increased heterosis). However, there is no guarantee that performance always benefits from such experimental breedings. It can also be challenging to regularly find new suitable breeds locally for cross-breeding.

With the increasing importance of high-performing hybrids for egg and meat production worldwide, attention to the performance of traditional breeds has decreased. Most traditional breeds have been kept for preservation of the breed, and selection focused more on appearance than performance. Nevertheless, there are still many traditional dual-purpose breeds with promising features for breeding, and breeders who have been selecting these breeds for good production performance.

When choosing a breed, a cross-breed or a hybrid, the suitability of the breed for the environment it is expected to live in needs to be considered. Many hybrids are selected for good performance in cages and with trimmed beaks. Their use in alternative systems such as semi-intensive organic production can be challenging. Traditional breeds that thrive in Nordic climates may do less well in warmer conditions, and those coping well in dry areas might have problems in more humid environments.

For many generations, the hens of many breeds have been selected for high egg laying performance. Their broodiness is reduced, as broody hens naturally stop laying eggs when the clutch is complete. If one wants the fertilised eggs to be incubated by hens, he/she has to find hens that become broody. Some breeds are known to be good brooders and chick mothers. One very well-known breed is the silky chicken. Silky chickens are often used solely for this purpose, as their laying performance is rather low and the eggs are quite small. Of the African breeds, the South-African Potchefstroom Koekoek is said to be sufficiently broody, and is at the same time used for egg and meat production. But one can also find broody hens in other dual-purpose breeds. One can identify them easily by looking for the following signs.

A broody hen ...

• Leaves the nest only shortly to feed and drink,
• Stops roosting on perches during the night to stay in the nest,
• Stops laying eggs,
• Protects the nest by squawking, growling, puffing up her feathers or pecking,
• Pulls out her chest feathers.

Hens don’t have to show all signs when they become broody, but these signs give a good hint. The most important one is that the hen stays in the nest during the night. Hens rarely become broody in winter, when days are very short. If one wants to encourage hens to become broody, spring or beginning of summer is the best time to do so. The farmer should provide the hens with sufficient warm, dark and secluded nests with food and water nearby. Putting several dummy eggs into the nest will further encourage brooding. Dummy eggs can be made of wood, clay, or even plastic eggs or smooth stones can be used.

When the hens are visibly broody, the dummy eggs can be replaced by fertilised eggs during the night or while the hen is feeding.

Feed and water should be served in close proximity to the brooding nests, so hens don’t starve while brooding. It is advisable to separate the broody hens from the other chickens. This will ensure that they are not disturbed, and it prevents other hens from adding eggs during the brooding period. If too many eggs are added by other hens, it may become difficult for the brooding hen to keep the eggs warm with the result that the eggs do not hatch. Or some eggs may be ready for hatching while others are not, and the hen would then leave the nest with the chicks and abandon the other eggs with the unhatched chicks. If the brooding hens cannot be separated from the remaining chickens, the fertilised eggs can be marked with a pencil and additional eggs can be removed daily.

Outside the brooding period, the broody hens are usually kept separately from the layers, as the broody hens stop laying eggs as soon as their clutch is complete. Furthermore, they are more reluctant to feed, drink and dust bathe. Last but not least, broody hens can trigger other hens to become broody as well.

One broody hen can brood 10 to 12 or 15 eggs per batch, depending on her size and the eggs’ size. For a batch of 50 new layers for egg production and 50 roosters for meat production, about 12 broody hens are needed who raise about 100 chicks or more, depending on the hatching rate and chick survival.