Essam A. El-Gendy
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
ABSTRACT
A breeding program aims to develop a chicken population inherent for heat tolerance and fast growth was started using a naked-neck local breed in Egypt that performs heat tolerance. The local breed was crossed with the sire line of a normally feathered commercial broiler strain. The crossbreds were raised in a heating treatment (35oC from hatch to 6 weeks, then reduced to 24oC) or a non-heating treatment (35oC from hatch to 3 days, and reduced gradually to reach 24°C). Body weights of the crossbreds, across ages, were significantly around twofold heavier than those of the locals. The crossbreds weighed 641.8 g at 6 weeks of age versus 303.0 g for the locals. The 2-4 week growth rate was 73.7% for the crossbreds versus 60.2% for the locals. The Na/na crossbreds were significantly heavier than na/na crossbreds when heated, and the differences were not significant when non-heated. The spread of 6-week body weights of the crossbreds was remarkably different from that of the locals and the difference was mainly attributed to the variation brought in through the flow of genes. The heterotic effects on body weights were significant in both heated and non-heated crossbreds and expressed a large source of non-additive genetic variation. Heterosis estimates in body weights and growth rates were age and environment specific, and were significantly higher for the heated than for non-heated crossbreds, indicating the flow of genes influence growth and heat tolerance. The results demonstrate remarkable changes in the frequencies of non-allelic genes that influence growth and propose the genetic selection for increased 6-week body weight in the naked-neck and normally feathered crossbreds.
PDF References Citation
How to cite this article
Essam A. El-Gendy, 2009. A Model for the Genetic Employment of Chickens Local to Warm Climate 1. Crossing with a Fast Growing Strain and Growth Patterns of the Crossbreds. International Journal of Poultry Science, 8: 299-306.
DOI: 10.3923/ijps.2009.299.306
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijps.2009.299.306
DOI: 10.3923/ijps.2009.299.306
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijps.2009.299.306
REFERENCES
- Cahaner, A. and F. Leenstra, 1992. Effects of high temperature on growth and efficiency of male and female broilers from lines selected for high weight gain, favorable feed conversion and high or low fat content. Poult. Sci., 71: 1237-1250.
CrossRefPubMedDirect Link - Deeb, N. and A. Cahaner, 2001. Genotype-by-environment interaction with broiler genotypes differing in growth rate. 1. The effects of high ambient temperature and naked-neck genotype on lines differing in genetic background. Poult. Sci., 80: 695-702.
CrossRefDirect Link - El-Gendy, E.A., M.K. Nassar and A. Mostageer, 2007. Genotype-environment interaction in relation to heat tolerance in chickens 2. Variation in juvenile growth of warm regions oriented breeds. Int. J. Poult. Sci., 6: 322-328.
CrossRefDirect Link - Gous, R.M., 2007. Predicting nutrient responses in poultry: Future challenges. Animal, 1: 57-65.
Direct Link - Nestor, K.E. and J.W. Anderson, 1998. Effect of crossing a line selected for increased shank width with two commercial sire lines on performance and walking ability of turkeys. Poult. Sci., 77: 1601-1607.
Direct Link - Patra, B.N., R.K.S. Bais, R.B. Prasad and B.P. Singh, 2002. Performance of naked neck versus normally feathered coloured broilers for growth, carcass traits and blood biochemical parameters in tropical climate. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 15: 1776-1783.
CrossRefDirect Link - Patra, B.N., R.K.S. Bais, R.B. Prasad, B.P. Singh, D. Sharma and B. Bhushan, 2005. Superiority of naked neck over normally feathered white broilers for growth,carcass traits and blood biochemical parameters in tropical climate. Indian J. Anim. Sci., 75: 302-307.
Direct Link - Segura-Correa, J.C., L. Sarmiento-Franco, J.G. Magana-Monforte and R. Santos-Ricalde, 2004. Productive performance of Creole chickens and their crosses raised under semi-intensive management conditions in Yucatan, Mexico. Br. Poult. Sci., 45: 342-345.
PubMed - Yalcin, S., P. Settar, S. Ozkan and A. Cahaner, 1997. Comparative evaluation of three commercial broiler stocks in hot versus temperate climates. Poult. Sci., 76: 921-929.
CrossRefDirect Link - Yunis, R. and A. Cahaner, 1999. The effects of naked-neck (Na) and frizzle (F) genes on growth and meat yield of broilers and their interactions with ambient temperatures and potential growth rate. Poult. Sci., 78: 1374-1382.
Direct Link