Effect of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) seeds in organic diets for broiler chickens: Acceptance and precaecal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids from raw, germinated and ensiled vetches

Crossing the Old Local Breed Deutsches Lachshuhn with the Layer Breed White Rock: Effects on Laying Performance of the Females and Fattening Performance of the Males

“…Bresse × WR (week 15) and NH × Bresse (week 18) reached higher levels of 17.6 and 19.1%, respectively. The latter are closer to the 20.0% breast fillet reported for the mixed-sex slow-growing broiler Sasso 51 [23], but still lower than the 23.8-24.3% found in the male slow-growing broiler Hubbard JA 757 [24]. Marketing of the males of dual-purpose breeds therefore remains a challenge and cannot be based on premium prices for breast fillet alone.…”

“…Crossing with WR therefore considerably improved both laying performance and laying efficiency, with FCR decreasing from 5.6 in LH to 2.9 in LH × WR. The laying curve of LH × WR closely resembled that of NH × Bresse and Bresse × WR, while purebred LH hens started laying later (10% laying performance in week 24 vs. 20-21%), and peaked later (week 29 vs. [23][24][25][26][27] and lower (64.9% vs. 87.6-93.5%) than the other breeds, again underlining the effect of the lack of breeding focus on laying performance in this breed. The concept of crossing an indigenous breed with a layer breed in order to obtain a higher laying performance while providing an incentive to keep the pure breed for genetic diversity is not new, and among other breeds has been shown to be effective in the cross of Vorwerkhuhn × Lohmann layer line [26] and for various crosses of Vorwerkhuhn, Bresse, and White Rock [27].…”