Similar improvements in reproductive performance of male line, female line and parent stock broiler breeders genetically selected in the UK or in South America

Abstract

1. Field data on the reproductive performance of parent stock and grandparent female line and male line broiler breeders were extracted from a commercial database covering the years of hatch from 1989 to 2002. The data were from the UK, Western Europe, Central and South America and Japan. Quadratic regression curves were fitted to the data to estimate the long-term phenotypic trends in total egg production, hatching egg production, chick numbers, hatchability and female mortality.

2. Changes in performance over time were similar in the UK, Western Europe and Central and South America and are consistent with the suggestion that genetic selection in separate breeding programmes in the UK (supplying the UK and Western Europe) and Brazil (serving Central and South America) was associated with similar improvements in the performance of commercial parent stock and grandparent flocks. Changes in performance in Japan (supplied from the UK) were different but recent performance was similar to those in the other regions.

3. The mean annual improvements over 10 years to 2002 for male line, female line and parent stock, respectively, were 0·4, 1·7 and 1·7 for total egg number; 0·5, 1·8 and 1·6 for hatching egg number; 0·6, 1·8 and 1·3 for total chick production; 0·25, 0·47 and 0·09% for hatchability; and −0·69, −0·05 and −0·41% for female mortality.

4. The results are consistent with claims that significant genetic change in pedigree selection (nucleus) flocks by the primary breeding company are reflected in substantial improvements in reproductive performance in commercial flocks. The presence of similar rates of improvement in different geographical regions as a result of genetic selection in two continents representing tropical and temperate regions suggests that genotype–environment interactions for reproduction traits are not important.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to staff at Aviagen for providing the data for this project and to the staff at Ross Breeders and their customers for compiling the database. Roslin Institute is supported by the BBSRC.