Dual-purpose production of eggs and meat — Part 1: cockerels of crosses between layer and meat breeds achieve moderate growth rates while showing unimpaired animal welfare

Abstract

The use of modern chicken genotypes with high egg or meat performance results in the ethically unacceptable practice of culling day-old male layer chicks because of their inefficient fattening performance. Dual-purpose genotypes with a balanced performance profile for both eggs and meat are one option to avoid this practice. In this study, four chicken crosses of a layer breed (White Rock or New Hampshire) and the meat breed Bresse Gauloise were compared under the conditions of organic agriculture. Purebred Bresse Gauloise and the layer hybrid Lohmann Sandy served as controls. Part 1 of this study focused on the fattening performance of the cockerels, which were reared together with the pullets. The birds were housed in a floor system (9.9–20.7 kg live weight per m2 at the end of week 15) with access to a green outdoor run. Live weight of the crosses before slaughter at the age of 15 weeks ranged between 2355 and 2447 g and did not differ significantly between the genotypes. With average daily gains of 22.1–22.8 g, the crosses grew slower than Bresse Gauloise males (26.1 g) but faster than Lohmann Sandy males (15.9 g). Welfare assessment indicated a generally high level of welfare with no foot pad lesions or hock burns on any of the cockerels. Fattening dual-purpose cockerels can therefore be an ethically desirable option with a high level of animal welfare and a better fattening performance than in male layer chicks, but still requires more resources than the fattening of specialised broilers.

Development of dual-purpose cross for meat and egg production I. Growth performance and carcass composition of the crossbred chickens in comparison to the parent lines

“…The practice of culling of the male layer-type chickens goes against all principles for animal welfare and is in conflict with Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009. Apart from the proposed approaches for avoiding it including in ovo sex determination, and fattening of male chickens for meat, the use of dualpurpose combinations appears to be a good option (Baldinger and Bussemas, 2021a). The concerns that started with the problem of the way the male layertype chickens are killed, transferred to other problems in the poultry industry, leading to change of certain EU policies under the pressure of nongovernmental organizations.…”

Productive performance, perching behavior, keel bone and other health aspects in dual-purpose compared to conventional laying hens

“…In Germany killing day-old chicks is forbidden since January 2022 ( TierSchG, 2021 ) and in France it is also forbidden from 2022 onward but with a transitional period until December 2022 ( Ministère de, 2021 ). Beside in-ovo sex determination (e.g., Krautwald-Junghanns et al, 2017 ) and rearing of male chickens ( Koenig et al, 2012 ), a further possibility is to keep dual-purpose chicken breeds ( Mueller et al, 2020 ) in which both sexes are reared: The males for meat and the females for egg production, with both having moderate performance compared to strains selected either for egg or meat production ( Icken & Schmutz, 2013 ; Baldinger and Bussemas, 2021a , b ). The dual-purpose strain is a hybrid, with a crossing between layer and broiler strains.…”

Consumers' choice of chicken meat. The case of local dual-purpose breeds and local protein feedstuff.

“…As the main concern regarding dual-purpose breeds is their lower profitability due to their lower production performance, most literature regarding DPBs focuses on measuring fattening or carcass (Baldinger and Bussemas, 2021a;Lambertz et al, 2018;Tiemann et al, 2020) and laying (Baldinger and Bussemas, 2021b;Hammershøj et al, 2021; performance. However, animal performance is not the only important aspect of DPBs as it is imperative that the meat quality of the alternative breeds can meet that of modern broilers.…”