“BREED SELECTION IS IMPORTANT (COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COBB, BOUN, NOVOGEN, HYLINE & LOHMAN BREEDS).”
By: – Dr. S.K Khanna
Poultry consultant.
In fact all the prevailing breeds of layers perform well when put in environment condition. However in open side sheds, they have to be selected as per your broader consumption, ventilations etc. Two type of feed and density of birds.
COBB: – Till today it appears to be best breed, it is tough because it is in the country for more than 50 years so good adaptability to weather conditions.
GOOD POINTS: – Lays upto 320-330 eggs at low cost feed i.e. 15.5% in new layers & 13 % in old layers. Feed intake in North India remains 51 KG in practical condition from day old up to 72 weeks. Remain 10 % less than desired from May to August & upto 16-17 % in August & September (Hot & Humid weather).
Even survive well in old sheds with poor infrastructure. It does not require very good quality feed like Soya based feed recovers quickly after summer season is over. Even goes up to 85 % peak production at poor body weight i.e. 1300 Gms to 1350 Gms/bird.
NEGATIVE POINT:- Not recommended for old fashioned sheds, chicks having 4 rows, window size is 4’- 6’. In fact there should be total window leaving 2.5” plinth area shed should be totally ventilated. 20-30% birds die from June to August due to Wing rot & Anaemia. Proper ventilation improves this condition it lays 15-20 pullet eggs.
Eggs quality spoils after 60 weeks & birds do not have feathering after 60 weeks so birds do not cope with extreme winter due to featherless conditions. Farmer with good infrastructure can afford to provide good quality feed & better weather conditions like south. It may prove bird of choice if there is no chicken Anaemia in the bird cobb is best in the country.
BOUNS:- About 15 years back came to India from Holland (Hendrix) it improved well in terms of adaptability lays very good in environmentally controlled houses & require 4% oil in feed. In fact of guidelines of the company is followed then bird is not economical the guidelines need to be update. It states laying 7-10 days late i.e on 18 weeks & gives only 5 pullets. Birds perform well if body weight at the time of lying is 1200gms.
Otherwise birds do not reach peak & remain at 80-85% production. Birds are prone to picking if little management is compromised gives 290 eggs in open. However as per claim now the birds may give up to 100 weeks. The result of prolonged life are awaited .Constant results of better performance are not visible in all the farms.
NEGATIVE POINTS OF BOUNS:- Up to year 2013 there was no chicken anaemia. In 2014 mid chicken anaemia in isolated farms with majority up to 2-3% was observed. Of course majority due to classical M.D was seen in more than 30% farms with majority rate up to 5%. In year 2015 about 25% flocks of Bouns are affected with chicken anaemia & majority rate was 15-20% . Even cases of gumboro were also common gumboro disease in bonus are very poor in first week of age. In summer stress it can drop up to 20% of egg production.
Farmer use this bird from April to July to get rid of chicken anemia when they enjoy about 45-50% share in north & in Gujarat market but again farmer comes to cobb from September to April & share of bonus remain 35-40% during this month to chicken anaemia. Birds eats 49 kg practically in field conditions (0-72) weeks against 50 kg in cobb birds
.
NOVOGEN:- This breed has come from Aviagen company & perform very well in environmental controlled houses but its performance in open sided houses has not been observed because they do ssnot market in North India but it can prove alternate breed if properly managed.
LOHMAN: – This is a moderate bird. Birds in India are not performing well due to improper technical set up in India. Its requirements are entirely different from other birds very less prone to chicken Anaemia. Birds are heavy & good performance poor body weight is not a performance hindrance as birds are heavy around 1600 gms against 1250 gm cobb body weight require very high protein in i.e 17.5% & energy 2750 to lay better eggs.
NEGATIVE POINTS:- Morality is very low, Heat tolerance is very poor more successful in semi hilly areas & southern part or ventilated farms of India. Its economical life is very good & continue to lay up to 80 weeks. Due to lack of technical services of company the bird has failed to take its share in the market.
HYLINE:- It is considered most economical birds in the market of world consume only 48 kg (0-72weeks) against 50-51kg consumed by other breeds. It has poor tolerance of heat as it may come down to 70% production from 90% in peak season by consuming 75gm feed. So if feed prices are high & egg prices are low it can be alternative otherwise in high egg prices breed may fail. In winters also birds do not consume more than 105 gm feed against 115gm-118gm in other breeds.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS:- Birds are not prone to any disease most economical in ideal conditions of weathers. Lays very good quality of eggs heat tolerance is poorest among all the breeds. so deciding above factors farmer may choose their breed. One breed may be good to ones may not perform in other farms. In the present context about 40% of farmers are suffering from chicken anaemia & wing rot so it may be healthy decision to put boun birds from April to July & August to June cobb. Birds may be tried however if chicks sheds are ventilated with air velocity 300 cubic meter per minute to 400 cubic per minute with proper infrastructure cobb birds or any other breed can be well reared. Genetic manipulation & adaptability to weather conditions seems to reflect the this post performance.
Birds laying less than 300 eggs in 72 weeks are less prone to disease with better quality egg shell & better moulting of birds. These are field observation, However claims & performance of breeds may vary in well managed farms. It is not the performance of in terms of egg production. It is more important to see feed efficiency of birds.
As cobb birds are require 17% to 13% (in 72 weeks) protein (boun require 17% to 15% C.P) LOHMAN require (18% to 16.5%) percent protein & HYLINE require (17.5 to 16%) protein level. Also cobb can survive well at 2400 kcal energy while bouns require little more energy & hyline require 2600-2700 kcal energy so we should compare all the parameters while selecting the breed. And overall aim is survival of breed. Please see which breed can survive well in your farm if birds do not survive where to compare performance.
The negative points of hyline we’re in w36 but in w 80 all negative points of heat stress are removed and present breed eats 3 kg less then all other breeds it has minimum mortality among all breeds .most resistance to MD .in fact does not require MD vaccine at day old bird is having heaviest egg mass .out of around 80 flocks placed in North the breed encountered lowest mortality w 80 breeds is much Hardy then earlier w 80 hyline which is outdated it does perform well on concentrate diet with same energy like other breeds
Now all features which were negative like heat tolrance etc found in w 36 breeds have been improved and lays 417 eggs in 90 weeks with 3 kg less feed consumption then other breeds it does not lay more then 2 pullet eggs heaviest egg mass and it’s egg mostly goes to skm fr egg powder or egg basket of India
Conclusion .
Selection of breed is farmer choice now a day’s few farmer are financially sick so place order according to concessions credit facility offered ignoring qualities but many Farmers are comfortable with particular breed and suffer losses with other breed
The decision of placing breed is based on how good management one can keep the quality of feed and ventilation
Eg hyline w80 per forms little poor in North summer if sheds don’t have fans same is with bovns
Bovns suffer more with white pasty diarrhea if poor quality feed
Cobb suffer more in MD fatty liver cav etc
So Farmers can have Cobb in July onwards and make choice among hyline w 80 in other months as during high cost of feed taking 3 kg less feed makes 67 RS per bird difference ..
However now bovns has also improved and few Farmers feel its eggs has better demand then Cobb and feel comfortable and more profitable they also recognise it as second inning bird as it performs good after molting as well .
