The world population passed the mark of 7 billion last year and continues to increase at a rate of about 80 million people per year; the demand for eggs is increasing at least at the same rate. to meet the increasing demands, a minimum of 50 million hens have to be added each year.

Increased egg production, improved feed efficiency and adaptation of egg quality to consumer preferences have contributed significantly to the success of the poultry industry. while the focus has to remain on maximizing the genetic potential for producing high quality protein at competitive cost, additional requirements of the egg industry, changing consumer habits and the public opinion on animal welfare have to be taken into account.

Close communication

Primary breeders have to look beyond current requirements and anticipate changing needs and opportunities at least five years into the future. Close communication between breeders and distributors is necessary to introduce new varieties at the right time to benefit from growing niche markets. This requires extensive gene pools with large elite lines which can be combined to generate strain crosses with specific attributes to meet market needs as closely as possible. Maintaining and developing new lines, testing, selection and reproduction of primary stocks involves high fixed costs in the operation and requires superior skills in quantitative genetics as well as internal organization to keep track of the availability of different line combinations. Genetic development, marketing and technical support have to communicate closely with local distributors to provide the best possible service for the current market and to benefit from changing requirements.
To supply the best possible combination for each market with specified optimal egg weight, shell colour and the most common housing system, LOHMANN TIERZUCHT is currently offering more than a dozen of different strain crosses, which are all selected with focus on efficient egg production, but with different emphasis on individual selection traits.

Test environments

For line improvement, pure-line and cross-line hens are being tested in different environments: in single, small group and family cages as well as under floor conditions with a new kind of “trapnesting”. The majority of single bird cages are enriched with perches, nests and scratching areas with the aim of creating a testing system which is as close as possible to future housing systems with more floor space and several enrichments. Daily egg production is recorded with the aid of barcode readers, various egg quality traits (mainly egg weight, shell stability, shell colour and internal egg quality) and plumage condition are recorded on a sample basis across the production cycle. Individual feed intake and daily egg mass are determined at peak production, i.e. during the time of maximum performance, so that selection for improved efficiency reflects the capacity for sufficient feed intake at a time of greatest nutrient demand.

Ten years ago, the automatic testing of individual performance in floor systems was developed with the aid of a specially adapted transponder technique and the weihenstephan Funnel Nest Box to obtain individual information on egg production, nest acceptance and utilization of outdoor facilities (winter garden or free-range). The data are used in family selection for “number of saleable nest eggs”, penalizing families with poor nest acceptance which tend to produce floor eggs.

Breeding goals

For the foreseeable future, we can safely assume that general breeding goals such as egg numbers, feed efficiency and egg quality traits will remain priorities. Behaviour patterns and especially behaviour anomalies are included in the selection process for more than 10 years now. suitability for floor housing and free-range systems has become more important, and this includes attention to a whole range of traits: acceptance of nests and free-range, persistent plumage cover to the end of lay, resistance to common diseases and minimal tendency to develop feather-pecking or cannibalism.
LOHMANN TIERZUCHT has invested in additional testing capacities which reflect typical field conditions in different markets. At the same time, the genetic basis of the elite lines has been expanded on different continents to accommodate the demand of growing markets, which in turn will minimise the rate of inbreeding and the risk of losing valuable genetic variation. A special program to match selected males and females at the pedigree level assures that inbreeding effects in the pure lines are minimized and genetic progress continues at an even faster rate.

Molecular biology

Advances in molecular biology have contributed new and more powerful techniques for selection. Using informative genetic markers, we can identify individuals with special characteristics early in life and thereby accelerate improvements in egg production, egg quality, behaviour and liveability. These innovations complement traditional performance testing and evaluation methods based on phenotypic selection indexes of production, efficiency and quality parameters.

Additional information based on DNA analysis is combined with traditional breeding to select males at an earlier age and to differentiate among full brothers, which used to have identical breeding values before DNA information became available. The combination of performance testing as described above and genome wide analysis is a promising tool for enhancing the genetic progress for line combinations with a performance profile tailored to specific requirements.

Genetic progress

The current rate of genetic progress for total efficiency of egg production appears to be even greater than it was 20 years ago. An improved structure and increased size of breeding populations, the application of new testing and recording technologies and more powerful computer systems for breeding value estimation have contributed to more efficient use of existing genetic variation.

The breeding goals for future layers can be summarised with the following targets and biological parameters which we are on the brink of achieving: vital layers with stable plumage, strong bones as well as performance-based feed consumption. All of these are most significant for cage-free systems.

Today’s hen daily lays an egg with a robust shell. The laying sequence is seldom interrupted. In most cases, the pauses are for one day only. Laying sequences of 80 until 100 days without any pauses whatsoever is already the standard with more than 50 % of hens within a flock. A calm behaviour with a high ability to adapt to environmental challenges safeguards the economic success. with the expected ban on beak treatment in europe, docile behaviour will become the most important factor.

Finally, we should realise that increased genetic potentials need to be “converted” into reality in commercial practice. Disease control, farm management and nutrition have to keep pace with genetic improvements. Together, we can achieve more and we will stay successful also in the future.

Prof. Dr. R. Preisinger