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Reaching the genetic potential
©Hendrix Genetics
The genetic potential of laying hen breeds is continuously improving due to genetic selection and a balanced breeding program. Genetic improvements are seen across a wide array of traits that Hendrix Genetics’ geneticists select on, from egg production, egg quality to bird behavior.
Balanced breeding
Teun van de Braak Product Manager Hendrix Genetics layinghens.hendrix-genetics.com
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Hendrix Genetics’ breeding philosophy is well-known: breeding the long-life layer. The company is selecting and breeding laying hens that can be kept for longer egg production periods with every new generation delivered to the market. Selection is based on many traits, which all need to go in the desired direction. Birds can only be successfully kept longer when they can keep up their productivity, maintain a good health and body condition, and produce eggs that can still be classified as 1st quality. An ever-increasing number of flocks of white egg layers (e.g. the white leghorns) have proven themselves to produce over 500 eggs per
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hen housed in a time span of 100 weeks. But steady progress is also seen in the brown egg layers, a clear trend is seen that also with brown laying hens, flocks are kept longer and longer. For a brown egg layer, it is a bigger challenge to keep them longer compared to a white egg layer. One should not forget that they are centuries apart from each other. The birds do not only look different, but they are different from each other in their genetic architecture, resulting in a different response to selection. Brown egg layers do have their clear benefits, one of these is the higher egg size compared to the white leghorns. Resulting in a comparable or higher egg mass output despite fewer eggs being produced.
Achieving the birds’ genetic potential Breed choice, production houses, equipment, management, feed supplier and flock health, all have significant impact on the performance of your flock. Managing a flock of laying hens is nowadays a highly specialized business requiring significant investment to stay up to date with the latest regulations on animal health and welfare. Laying hen breeding is even more specialized as more and more traits are added to the breeding programs, to ensure that Hendrix Genetics laying hens perform in a wide variety of egg production systems: from enriched colony group cages, all the way up to barn and organic. Exploitation of the genetic potential requires constant research in nutrition and management systems to en-
