For farmers raising chickens, the choice of chickens is crucial, let's talk about how to choose the breed of high-yielding layer chicken and the choice of layer chicken breed.
1 breed of high-yielding layer chickens
1 brown shelled layer chicken
It is larger, the eggs are heavy, and the eggs are heavier than the white-shelled eggs when they are laid. Eggs have a low breakage rate and are suitable for transport and preservation. Chickens have a gentle temperament, low sensitivity to stress, and are easy to manage. Egg production is higher, commercial generation roosters grow better, have good cold tolerance, and the egg production rate in winter is relatively stable.
2 hybrid chickens
There are few pecking habits, the death rate is low, and hybrid chickens can be distinguished by males and females. The disadvantage is that the daily feed intake is 5 to 6 grams more than that of white shell layer chickens, the area occupied by each chicken is about 15% more than that of white shell layer chickens, and the feeding management technology is higher than that of white shell layer chickens, and the eggs are more prone to blood spots, black spots, etc., and the heat resistance is poor.
3 white-shelled layer chickens
It is based on the Laihang variety. Small size, less material consumption, early start of production, high egg production, high pay for egg-laying feed, and high density per unit area of feeding. Strong adaptability, can be reared under various environmental conditions, the rate of blood spots and meat spots in eggs is very low, suitable for intensive cage management. The disadvantages are small egg weight, neuroticism, poor stress resistance, and many pecking habits, especially in the early stage of labor, the pecking causes more casualties.
4 powder shell layer chickens
It refers to the light brown color between brown shell eggs and white shell eggs from the color of the egg. There are mainly the following varieties:
Star Miscellaneous 444: This breed is a three-line hybrid hybrid powder-shelled layer chicken bred by Chevros of Canada. Commodity generation can be self-separating male and female, chicken fluff white. The female has light brown villi at the front of the head at the junction with the beak, while the male chick does not. The chicken has a high egg laying rate, a small body size, and a high feed conversion rate, but it has high requirements for environmental conditions, is susceptible to stimulation and shock, and has poor cold resistance. The 20-week-old commercial chicken weighs 1.40-1.55 kg, which is 1.81-2.04 kg at 72 weeks old, and the 72-week-old chicken lays 270-290 eggs, with an average egg weight of 60 grams, the average daily feeding intake of each chicken during the egg laying period is 115 grams, and the survival rate during the egg laying period is 92%-95%.
Yakang chicken: This breed is a powder-shelled layer chicken bred by the Israeli P.B.U breeding company, which is a four-line match. Its commercial generation can use fast and slow feathers to distinguish between males and females. This variety has strong stress resistance, heat resistance, strong disease resistance, and consumes 103 g/day of egg laying.
Xianju chicken: This breed is an excellent local breed of small layer chicken in Zhejiang Province, China, and the main production area is in Xianju County and its neighboring counties. The chicken has been raised for more than 300 years, raised extensively, mainly in the wild free foraging, so it is physically robust and adaptable. Xianju chicken is mainly yellow, the neck feather color is darker than the rest of the body, black tail, wing feathers are half yellow and half black, the age of the opening day is 150 to 180 days, the annual egg production under general breeding conditions is 160 to 180, the average egg weight is 42 grams, and the adult layer chicken weighs 1.25 kg.
Choice of 2 layer chicken breeds
The breed of layer chicken is selected according to the market demand of the local area. If brown-shelled layer chickens are prevalent in the local market, then choose brown-shelled layer chickens, and the vast majority of them like to eat brown-shelled eggs in China and even throughout Asia.
If the local people like to eat white shell eggs, then you have to raise white shell egg chickens, such as some places in Jining, Heze and Liaocheng in Shandong Province like to eat white shell eggs. There are also some places that like to eat powder shell eggs, such as the Dezhou region of Shandong Province, where farmers raise a lot of Roman pink shell layer chickens. Choose according to your familiarity with various breeds of layer chickens and breeding habits. For example, the original has been raising Roman layer chickens, the breed of living habits, management, disease prevention and treatment are very familiar, it is best to choose Roman brown for breeding.
Breeds are determined according to their own level of cultivation. White-shelled layer chickens are small in size, have less feeding, and produce large eggs, but their egg weight is small, their anti-stress ability is poor, and they are easy to peck at the anus and feathers. Brown shell layer chicken is larger, the egg weight is larger, the egg damage rate is low, the stress resistance is strong, the feather pecking, the anus pecking is less, the death rate is low, but the consumption is more material, the heat is not resistant, and the feeding technology is higher than that of the white shell layer chicken.
Selection of 3 quality chicks
1. Check
First of all, the high-yield breed is selected to find out the purity of the breed and the production performance of the breeder farm, and whether the breed is bred according to the supporting line and follows the acceptance regulations of the breeding farm. Find out the level of breeding management and incubation in the breeding farm, understand the immunization program and antibody level of the breeding flock, and whether the breeding farm has experienced infectious diseases.
2. Look
It mainly depends on whether the time of chicks coming out of the shell is normal, whether the size is uniform, whether the mental state is good, and whether it is in line with the characteristics of the breed. High-quality chick eyes are energetic, protruding outwards, responsive, lively and active, the length of the villi is moderate, neat, clean, uniform and shiny, the anus is clean, the abdomen is moderately sized and flat, the umbilical cord heals well, dry, covered with villi, no blood, no mutilation of the beak, legs, toes, and wings, and is well developed. Inferior chicks are mentally atrophied, shrink their heads and eyes, have dry legs and feet, stand unsteadily, are slow to respond to their surroundings and sounds, do not love activities, and are afraid of the cold. The villi are disheveled and filthy, lack of luster, sometimes the villi are extremely short or absent, there is yellow-white feces sticking around the anus, the abdomen is enlarged and prominent, indicating malabsorption of the yolk, the umbilicus is not well healed, moist, there are traces of bleeding, there is a lack of villous coverage, obviously bare, thin and weak.
3. Listen
Listen mainly to the chicks. The calls of high-quality healthy chicks are loud, crisp and short; weak chicks are weak and hoarse, or scream endlessly, but pay attention to distinguish them from the calls caused by poor environmental conditions such as high temperature, lack of water, and cold.
4. Touch
Hold the chicks in your hands and touch the fat, belly size, whether the yolk is well absorbed, and whether the posture is even. Healthy chicks feel struggling, well-proportioned, moderately weighted, and a flat, soft, and moderately sized abdomen, indicating that the yolk is absorbed and the umbilicus heals well. Weak chicks feel weak in their hands, thin, fluffy, and swollen abdomen.