The Jungle Fowls

Animal Production Practical
(動物生產實習)
The Modern Commercial Chickens
Chen Shuen-Ei
Dept. of Animal Sci.
The Jungle Fowls
(Gallus ferrugineus or bankiva)
Red Jungle Fowl: The progenitor of modern chickens
Male
female
1
Other Jungle Fowls
Green or Forked-Tail Jungle Fowl
cannot reproduce offspring with modern chickens
Variation, the driving force of selection
Diversity within a breed
2
Divergence by Selection
The Most Dominant Meat-type Chickens
Broilers
3
Monopoly by the Breeder Companies
Production: 40 billion broiler chickens per year in the world
Ross
Arbor Acres
L.I.R.
Aviagen
35-45 %
Cobb
30-40 %
Hubbards
10-20 %
Hybro
Others
5-10 %
USA
Europe
10-20 %
Broiler Production System
Breeder companies: Pedigree, 90000 hens of pure lines,
intensive selection
never
Great grandparents, 250000 hens, sold
some selection pressure, mainly
for grandparent production
Breeder farms: Grandparents, 10000000 hens, sold as chicks
Parents, 400000000 hens, sold at one day age
Broiler farms: Broilers, 40000000000 chickens per year
4
Meat-type Chicken Production in Taiwan
Poultry meat production: 85 % chickens
(NT %) 10-15 % ducks
< 5 % geese
<1 % others (turkeys, guinea fowls,
quails)
50 % broilers, 50 % (semi-)country chickens (NT %) of
meat-type chicken production in Taiwan
110000000 broilers per year in Taiwan
Breeders or breeder parents are controlled by the monopoly
breeder companies
Genetic Origins of Broilers
Intensive genetic selection for early rapid growth
by many breeder companies starting in 1950s
2 kg at 6 weeks of age for market weight
Feed efficiency; 4 folds than unselected lines of birds
80% contribution are from genetic selection
Some defects with selection: ascites, sudden death,
skeletal deformities, poor reproductive performances
and immune responses, fatty liver
5
Broiler Ancestors
Cornish
Varieties: dark, white,
white laced red, buff (light
brown)
Excellent muscle development
as the ultimate meat bird
Greatly contributing its genes to
build the vast broiler industry
Derived from Aseel (or Asil) breed
A white
Cornish
rooster
A dark Cornish
rooster and
hen
A white-laced
red Cornish
roost
3 buff
Cornish
hens
6
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Aseel (or Asil), Indian Game fowls
The Progenitor of Cornish Breed
Variety: black, white, red spangled
The purest one of oldest breeds in the world
Go broody, slow maturing, aggressive, fierce
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Plymouth Rock
Most of Genetics of Modern Broilers are
derived from Rock
Varieties: barred, white, partridge, buff,
silver-penciled, dark, white-laced
Crosses from Dominique,
Java, Cochin, and Perhaps
Malay and Dorking
Barred: the foundation
breeds for the early
broiler industry
White Rock: used as the
female side for the
modern broiler cross.
7
A barred Plymouth
Rock rooster and hen
A white
Plymouth
Rock rooster
and hen
A partridge Plymouth Rock rooster and hen
A buff Plymouth Rock
rooster and hens
8
A dark Plymouth
Rock pullet
A silver-penciled
Plymouth Rock hen
A white-laced
Plymouth Rock
rooster and hen
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Dominique
For both meat and egg purpose use
Barred Dominique
Roosters and hens
A Dominique pullet
9
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Java
go broody
a black Java
rooster
a mottled black
Java rooster
very slow
maturing
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Cochin
The Fashion Show of chickens
Varieties: buff, black,
partidge, white, barred,
gold-laced, molted
black, blue, silver-laced
Originally from China
Extremely persistent
broodiness; good mothers
10
A black Cochin
cockerel and hen
A blue Cochin
cockerel and hen
Partidge Cochin
cockerels and
hens
11
A barred Cochin
cockerel and hen
A mottled black
Cochin cockerel
and hen
A pen of Gold-laced
Cochins
A white Cochin
cockerel and hen
12
A buff Cochin
cockerel and hen
Silver-laced Cochin cockerels and hens
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Malay-Game Fowls
Go broody, slow maturing
Placid than other game birds
2 dark Malay roosters and hen
13
a Wheaten
Malay hen
A white Malay
rooster
A Black Breasted Red Malay cock
and hen
Broiler Ancestors (continued)
Dorking
Variety: silver gray,
white, dark, barred,
colored, partidge
One of the oldest
breeds of chickens.
Broody tendency
14
A silver gray Dorking rooster and hens
A red Dorking
rooster and hen
A black Dorking
rooster and hen
Two Rose Combed
barred Dorking
cockerels
15
A spangled Dorking hen A colored Dorking rooster and hen
A rose comb white
Dorking cockerel
A red barred Crele Dorking
male and female
Leghorns-the Most Dominant Egg-type
Chickens
95 % at peak, average
> 80% egg production
(egg/day/hen)
Never go broody;
bad mothers
Well developed in the
19th century, named for
the city, Leghorn, in Italy
Single and rose comb with
various feather colors
16
A Single Comb
White Leghorn
cockerel and hen
the dominant line
of Leghorns
A flock of Single Comb Exchequer Leghorns
Single comb
Rose comb
female
male
17
A Single Comb buff Leghorn cockerel and hens
A Rose Comb buff Leghorn cockerel and hen
A Light Brown
Leghorn rooster
and hen
A Dark Brown Leghorn rooster and hen
18
Sliver leghorns
Pile leghorns
A Cuckoo
Leghorn female
Mottled leghorns
19
20