Development of parent stock of thai indigenous chicken : chee by selection index

Abstract

This research aimed to develop a flock of Thai indigenous chicken namely Chee with pure white feather in order to meet the requirement of domestic consumption and export of meat chickens. The genetics on growth must be improve with egg production was no affected. The selections were continuously done for 5 generations. Each generation, 30 sires and 50 of 16 week old females were obtained. At suitable age, 6 weeks after first egg laid, the artificial inseminations were arranged twice weekly with 1: 5 of the male and female proportion. Eggs were collected to hatchery in the 3 consecutive weeks followed with the 2 week skips. Before the next AI of reciprocal cross, the 3 groups were bred and 3 generations each. The newborn chickens from hatchery of each generation were weighed and the other measurements were done at the 4 weeks intervals. The data of weights at 16 week old chickens and breast widths were used to calculate for breeding value. The BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) was a selection tool to select high selection index for replacement herd of each generation. For the females, the 300 day egg productions were added. It was found that from the 1st to the 5th generation, the average of 16 week old chickens were 1225.99, 1265.86, 1461.94, 1326.16 and 1439.36 gram, respectively. The average body weight gain was 213.37 gram and the average daily gain was 12.85 gram. The 16 week breast widths were 5.46, 5.90, 5.54, 5.56 and 5.65 centimeter, respectively. The ages of first egg laid were 211.30, 178.66, 175.83, 171.91, and 171.10 day, respectively. In the 5th generation, egg production started about 40 days earlier than the 1st generation. The first egg weights were 1,390, 1,426, 1,467.61, 1,446.33, and 1,529 gram, respectively. Egg productions at the 300 day old were 36.38, 38.28, 40.29, 42.42, and 45.58 eggs and it could provide 9 eggs more than 1st generation.