LOHMANN’s value guarantee for the Colombian market.
Productivity has been the target for
genetic selection in LOHMANN
hens: peak lay and especially persistence
of lay which translates into more,
bigger and better quality eggs in terms of
strength and more intense shell colour.
This selection has been based on the
concept of ‘adequate nutrient intake’.
Table 1: Graph of overall mortality
Since its inception, LOHMANN hens
have been developed to consume sufficient
feed, which has enabled them to
adjust to a wide range of conditions of
temperature, housing, infrastructure, stocking
density, farm type, feed quality and
the significant health challenges they
face every day in the conditions found in
the Colombian tropics.
Table 2: Graph of mortality at the height of the outbreak
This ability to eat just a little more
when confronted with conditions of stress
has been the bedrock of LOHMANN’s success
in Colombia, especially under extreme
conditions of climate and housing,
when faced by significant health challenges,
or when going through natural periods
of low feed consumption, such as
during the pre-lay stage.
Table 1 shows the development of a
complex, insidious and damaging health
challenge, affecting all the birds on the farm
and having a significant impact on liveability.
Although the LOHMANN birds also fell
ill, they performed better during the outbreak,
their mortality was lower and they
recovered faster.
Table 3: Financial comparison between LOHMANN and birds from a popular competitor
The farm is situated in a hot climate, and
has vertical automated battery cages and
open barns shared with birds of another popular
genetic line.
Table 2 illustrates the effect of greater resilience
at the height of the outbreak.
Table 4: Financial comparison of egg size and
breakages
Adequate feed consumption at critical
stages is crucial to the productive
life of the bird, to allow potential to be
expressed to the full in terms of peak lay,
persistence of lay and egg size, specifically
superior egg mass.
All birds shared a farm in a hot climate,
at sea level, and in similar controlledenvironment
buildings. The bottom line
was that each LB bird produced 0.67 USD
more than the competitor bird.
Table 5
Egg size and shell strength, both important
qualities of the Lohmann bird,
become take on even more significance
in a system that markets eggs graded
by weight, with larger eggs being worth
more. Lohmann delivers on this promise
too, as illustrated in table 4, which shows
the same farm with a partial cut-off at 50
weeks of age, and compares Lohmann
egg classification with that of the competitor
birds at the same age.
Table 6: Production
Appropriate chick management during
the rearing and growing stages, to
reach the ideal weight at 5 and 12 weeks,
optimum uniformity in age at sexual maturity,
cumulative feed consumption at
18 weeks, and careful management of
lighting have made Lohmann’s viability a highly competitive trait for Colombian
poultry producers.
Table 7: Graphs form winning batches in the 2018 pronavicola competition
As can be seen in table 5, mortality in
the Lohmann birds was highly competitive
(6.79 % at 80 weeks), but it was more
than double the mortality of the competitor
birds on the same farm. However,
thanks to Lohmann’s productivity (peak
lay, and especially persistence of lay), the
financial comparison is still very favourable
toward the Lohmann due to the feed
conversion (expressed as grams per egg per bird, or GEB) which, in this trial, represents
0.62 USD per bird, without taking
into account the increased value of the
eggs due to their heavier weights. Here at
Lohmann in Colombia, we have never in our
37-year history benefited to such a degree,
and so consistently, from the genetic development
of these birds: their main attribute
of persistence of lay, and larger eggs, an egg
colour which is outstanding in the market,
and a GEB that makes Lohmann birds so
profitable. Table 6 and 7 illustrate this: