Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-ksm4s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T11:47:46.657Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Layer breeding programmes in changing production environments: a historic perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

F. LEENSTRA*
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
J. TEN NAPEL
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
J. VISSCHER
Affiliation:
Institut de Sélection Animale ISA, Boxmeer, The Netherlands
F. VAN SAMBEEK
Affiliation:
Institut de Sélection Animale ISA, Boxmeer, The Netherlands
*
Corresponding author: ferry.leenstra@wur.nl
Get access

Abstract

The housing and management of laying hens and their productivity has gone through enormous developments in the last century. Housing has changed from free-range systems, via battery cages to a variety of loose housing and different types of battery cages, and back to outdoor access systems. Although battery cages are still the main system used worldwide, the number of hens housed in aviaries and free-range systems has increased in Europe, Australasia and some parts of the USA, but aviaries and free-range systems are still considered a niche sector compared to caged housing. The following paper reviews how breeding and selection have responded to changes in housing and management and whether different types of housing require different breeding programmes and, more specifically, whether a dedicated breeding programme should be developed for aviary and free-range systems.

From the available literature it was concluded that broadening the selection goal in existing lines is the best option for breeding programmes to provide genotypes that are suitable for a range of housing systems.

Type
Reviews
Copyright
Copyright © World's Poultry Science Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BISCARINI, F. (2010) Genetic analysis of production, immunity and behavior in laying hens. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
BRAMBELL COMMITTEE (1965) Report of the Technical Committee to Enquire into the Welfare of Animals kept under Intensive Livestock Husbandry Systems, the Brambell Report, December 1965 (HMSO London, ISBN 0 10 850286 4). http://www.defra.gov.uk/fawc/about/five-freedoms/.Google Scholar
BRIGHT, A. and JOHNSON, E.A. (2011) Smothering in commercial laying hens: a preliminary investigation. Veterinary Record doi: 10.1136/vr.c7462. www.veterinaryrecord.bmj.com.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BUITENHUIS, H. (2003) Wageningen UR, Genetic analysis of feather pecking behaviour in laying hens. PhD Thesis.Google Scholar
CALIFORNIA (2008) Proposition 2 (2008).Google Scholar
CARTER, C.T. (1964) Modern trends in animal health and husbandry: poultry breeding. British Veterinary Journal 120: 506-517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COMSTOCK, R.E., ROBINSON, H.F. and HARVEY, P.H. (1949) A breeding procedure to make maximum use of both general and specific combining ability. Agronomy Journal 41: 360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CRAIG, J.V. AND ADAMS and A.W. (1984) Behaviour and Well-being of Hens (Gallus Domesticus) in Alternative Housing Environments. World's Poultry Science Journal 40: 221-240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CRAWFORD, R.D. (1990) Poultry breeding and genetics. Elsevier.Google Scholar
DAMME, K., URSELMANS, S., SCHNEIDER, M. and HILDEBRAND, R-A. (2010) 8th Bavarian Random Sample Test of Layers in Floor Housing. LfL-Information. Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Germany.Google Scholar
DAMME, K., URSELMANS, S., SCHNEIDER, M. and HILDEBRAND, R-A. (2014) 10th Bavarian Random Sample Test of Layers in Floor Housing. LfL-Information. Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Germany.Google Scholar
ELLEN, E.D. (2009) Genetics of survival in cannibalistic laying hens: the contribution of social effects. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
ELWINGER, K., TUFVESSON, M., LAGERKVIST, G. and TAUSON, R. (2008) Feeding layers of different genotypes in organic feed environments. British Poultry Science 49: 654-665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ERIKSSON, H., NYMAN, A.K., FELLSTRÖM, C. and WALLGREN, P. (2013) Erysipelas in laying hens is associated with housing system. Veterinary. Record 2013, July 6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EUROPEAN UNION (1999) Council Directive 1999/4/EC.Google Scholar
FLOCK, D.K. (2009) Poultry breeding - the next 25 years. World Poultry 25: 22-23.Google Scholar
FLOCK, D.K., LAUGHLIN, K.F. and BENTLEY, J. (2005) Minimizing losses in poultry breeding and production: how breeding companies contribute to poultry welfare. World's Poultry Science Journal 61: 227-237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FÖLSCH, D.W., HUBER, H-U., BÖLTER, U. and GOZZOLI, I. (1988) Research on alternatives to the battery systems for laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 20: 29-45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOSSUM, O., JANSSON, D.S., ENGELSEN ETTERLIN, P. AND VÄGSHOLM and I. (2009) Causes of mortality in laying hens in different housing systems in 2001 to 2004. Acta Veterinaia Scandinavia 51: 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
GRIFFING, B. (1956) Concept of general and specific combining ability in relation to diallel crossing systems. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 9: 463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HAGEDOORN, A.L. (1927) An improved method of testing the quality of a breeder's entire flock. Proceedings 3rd World Poultry Congress. Cited in: Hartmann, W., 1985. World's Poultry Science Journal 41: 153-159.Google Scholar
HAZEL, L.N. (1943) The genetic basis for constructing selection indexes. Genetics 28: 476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
HAZEL, L.N. and LUSH, J.L. (1942) The efficiency of three methods of selection. The Journal of Heredity 33: 393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HENDERSON, C.R. (1953) Estimation of variance and covariance components. Biometrics 9: 226-252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HENDERSON, C.R. (1976) A simple method for computing the inverse of a numerator relationship matrix used in prediction of breeding values. Biometrics 32: 69-83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HIERDEN, Y.M. (2003) Behavioral neurobiology of feather pecking. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
HUTT, F.B. (1949) Genetics of the fowl. McGraw Hill, New York.Google Scholar
ICKEN, W., CAVER, D., SCHMUTZ, M. and PREISINGER, R. (2012) New phenotypes for new breeding goals in layers. World's Poultry Science Journal 68: 387-399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KETELAARS, E.H. (1992) Historie van de Nederlandse pluimveehouderij; van kippenboer tot specialist.Google Scholar
LAYWEL (2003) European research program on welfare of laying hens in alternative housing systems. www.laywel.eu.Google Scholar
LAY, D.C. Jr, FULTON, R.M., HESTER, P.Y., KARCHER, D.M., KJAER, J.B., MENCH, J.A., MULLENS, B.A., NEWBERRY, R.C., NICOL, C.J., O'SULLIVAN, N.P. and PORTER, R.E. (2011) Hen welfare in different housing systems. Poultry Science 90: 278-294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LEENSTRA, F.R., MAURER, V., BESTMAN, M., VAN SAMBEEK, F., ZELTNER, E., REUVEKAMP, B., GALEA, F. And VAN NIEKERK and T. (2012) Performance of commercial laying hen genotypes on free-range and organic farms in Switzerland, France and The Netherlands. British Poultry Science 53: 282-290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LEENSTRA, F.R., MAURER, V., GALEA, F., BESTMAN, M., AMSLER-KEPALAITE, Z., VISSCHER, J., VERMEIJ, I. And VAN KRIMPEN and M. (2014) Laying hen performance in different production systems; why do they differ and how to close the gap? Results of discussions with groups of farmers in The Netherlands, Switzerland and France, benchmarking and model calculation. European Poultry Science 78: 1399/eps2104.53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LEINONEN, I., WILLIAMS, A.G., WISEMAN, J., GUY, J. and KYRIAZAKIS, I. (2012) Predicting the environmental impacts of chicken systems in the United Kingdom through a life cycle assessment: Egg production systems. Poultry Science 91: 26-40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LEYENDECKER, M., HAMANN, H., HARTUNG, J., KAMPHUES, J., RING, C., GLUNDER, G., AHLERS, C., SANDER, I., NEUMANN, U. and DISTL, O. (2001) Analysis of genotype-environment interactions between layer lines and hen housing systems for performance traits, egg quality and bone breaking strength - 2nd communication: Egg quality traits. Züchtungskunde 72: 308-329.Google Scholar
MEUWISSEN, T.H.E., HAYES, B.J. and GODDARD, M.E. (2001) Prediction of total genetic value using genome-wide dense marker maps. Genetics 157: 1819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MICHIGAN (2009) House Bill 5127 (2008).Google Scholar
MUIR, W.M., WONG, G.K.S., ZHANG, Y., WANG, J., GROENEN, M.A., CROOIJMANS, R.P. and CHENG, H.H. (2008) Genome-wide assessment of worldwide chicken SNP genetic diversity indicates significant absence of rare alleles in commercial breeds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (45): 17312-17317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MULDER, H.A., HILL, W.G., VEREIJKEN, A. and VEERKAMP, R.F. (2009) Estimation of genetic variation in residual variance in female and male broiler chickens. Animal 3: 1673-1680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NEETESON-VAN NIEUWENHOVEN, A.M., KNAP, P. and AVENDAÑO, S. (2013) The role of sustainable commercial pig and poultry breeding for food security. Animal Frontiers 3: 52-57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
QUAAS, R.L. (1976) Computing the diagonal elements and inverse of a large numerator relationship matrix. Biometrics 32: 949-953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RIEDSTRA, B.J. (2003) Development and social nature of feather pecking. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
RODENBURG, T.B. (2003) Feather pecking and related behavioral characteristics in laying hens. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
SINGH, R., CHENG, K.M. and SILVERSIDES, F.G. (2009) Production performance and egg quality of four strains of laying hens kept in conventional cages and floor pens. Poultry Science 88: 256-264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SPOELSTRA, S.F., GROOT KOERKAMP, P.W.G., BOS, A.P., ELZEN, B. and LEENSTRA, F.R. (2013) Innovation for sustainable egg production: realigning production with societal demands in The Netherlands. World's Poultry Science Journal 69: 279-298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
STAR, L. (2008) Robustness in laying hens: influence of genetic background, environment & early-life experiences. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
THURNER, S., WENDL, G. and PREISINGER, R. (2006) Funnel nest box: a system for automatic recording of individual performance and behaviour of laying hens in floor management. Proceedings European Poultry Conference, Verona, Italy http://www.cabi.org/Uploads/animal-science/worlds-poultry-science-association/WPSA-italy-2006/10204.pdf.Google Scholar
TIXIER-BOICHARD, M., LEENSTRA, F.R., FLOCK, D., HOCKING, A.D. and WEIGEND, S. (2012) A century of poultry genetics. World's Poultry Science Journal 68: 307-321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TŮMOVA, E., ENGLMAIEROVA, M., LEDVINKA, Z. and CHARVATOVA, V. (2011) Interaction between housing system and genotype in relation to internal and external egg quality parameters. Czech Journal of Animal Science 56: 490-498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UITDEHAAG, K. (2008) Effects of genetic background and social environment on feather pecking and related behavioural characteristics in laying hens. Wageningen UR, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
VAN HORNE, P., BELL, D., NYBERG LARSEN, J. and YDING, L. (2014) 50 years of development in the egg industry. International Egg Commission, annual review, September 2014.Google Scholar
WINDHORST, H.W. (2015) Housing Systems in Laying Hen Husbandry; Development, present situation and perspectives. International Egg Commission, Business meeting Lisbon April 12-14, 2015.Google Scholar