Principles & Practices  of Poultry Breeding in India

Principles & Practices  of Poultry Breeding in India

 

BY- K.T. Chandy, Director, Agricultural & Environmental  Education

 

Poultry production which was once a small scale backyard: venture has now grown into an industry. This has been largely made possible by developing superior breeds, both for egg as well meat production, by employing modem techniques of breeding and election. This booklet discusses all the important aspects of poultry breeding in a simple and easy language.

Introduction 

The modem fowl is much superior with regard to its productive capacity, in terms of number and size of eggs and quality and quantity of meat, as compared to its ancestors. This has been made possible through the environment and the improved breeding methods.

Poultry breeding is, thus, a scientific practice which aims at genetic improvement of the birds through successive generations by virtue of planned reproduction. A successful breeder should have adequate knowledge of the various qualities and capabilities of different breeds of poultry in order to select the right type of birds and to combine all the desirable qualities to a fairly high degree.

Highly scientific breeding of poultry may not be possible in our villages. But an average farmer may follow the fundamental principles of scientific breeding that are practicable in the villages where they are properly instructed and guided. An effort is made here to discuss the various aspects of poultry breeding relevant to the village conditions, in a simple and systematic way.

Principles of Breeding 

  The fundamental principles of scientific breeding are as follows: 

Breeding should be purposive and the breeder should know  the purpose of the breeding and the standard to which the birds are to be bred. It may be for size, weight, egg production, meat quality or combination of these factors. For example, poorly bred or desi hens are often voracious feeders, but because they are not bred for egg production, they do not lay correspondingly large number of eggs. The efficiency of conversion of feed into the eggs is an inherited trait and can only be reproduced in the succeeding generations by careful selection and breeding.

Breeding should be done from parents which conform as closely as possible to the required standard.

In selection and mating, all the birds which fail to possess the desired standards should be discarded.

The parents selected for breeding should also be pure breeds.

For a successful breeding, selection must be practiced continuously and carefully, from the hatching to maturity.

Environment plays an important part in breeding. So a favourable condition should be created in respect of housing, feeding, sanitation and general care.

Pedigree breeding is an important practice wherein efficiency of matings can be measured and the selection and mating operations modified to ensure improvement But this is possible only in well-established farms, requiring lot of technical expertise, and accurate mating and breeding rewards.

III. Types of Mating 

Mating is an act of joining cock with hen so that the hens may produce fertile eggs for hatching and multiplication. The number of female birds allowed to be served by a male bird depends upon the factors like breed, body weight, virility, season, age and physical condition of the male. For example, more females may be allowed for each male in the Leghorns (light breeds) than in the heavier breeds such as the Rhode Island Reds. Similarly a young cockerel (young male} can be given more pullets than an old cock. More females can be allowed in the mating pen during spring than during winter (where the winters are very cold). In summer, mating should be suspended as fertility will be very poor and the birds get exhausted.

Matings are of several kinds viz. (1) pen mating, (2) flock mating, (3) stud mating, (4) alternating males, (5) artificial insemination. Artificial insemination may not be a feasible proposal for the village level poultry, as the villagers may not have the necessary infrastructure or expertise in this field.

Pen mating

In this type of mating, ten hens are kept in a breeding pen and one cock is permitted to mate and live with them freely. Eggs collected, a week after letting in the cock, will normally be fertile.

Flock mating

Here a large flock of hens is kept with a num ber of cocks in the proportion of one cock for every ten hens. But under confined conditions, the males develop a tendency to fight each other and generally one male becomes the aggressor preventing the others from mating. This may affect the fertility seriously. The eggs also cannot be traced to the cock concerned and so pedigree breeding is not possible. On the other hand, on a free range, there will not be much scope for fighting and the birds are free to run about. Flock mating is preferred where ordinary farm conditions are prevalent and no pedigree breeding is undertaken. It also permits housing for a large number of fowls as one unit and thereby reduces the overhead costs.

Stud mating

Stud mating consists of keeping the cocks and hen in separate pens or confining the males in separate coops in the pen of the females. The hens are let into the male’s pen one by one at intervals, and after mating they are removed to their own pen.

Alternate males

In this method two males are used for mating, but only one is allowed to serve the hens at a time for one full day, while the other is confined to the coop. The following day the male that had been employed is removed to the coop, and the second one is let in with the flock. In this method, too, the paternity of the off-spring cannot be determined.

Systems of Breeding

The systems of breeding generally employed for improving the flocks are (1) inbreeding, (2) line breeding, (3) out crossing, (4) crossing, and (5) grading up.

Inbreeding

The mating together of close blood relations, such as parent to off-spring, or between brother and sister, is called inbreeding. This practice may result in poor hatchability, low rate of growth and egg production and short life, if continued for long. If the parent stocks are of excellent qualities, there is a possibility of their good qualities being inherited by the offspring.

Line breeding

Line breeding is similar to inbreeding, but involves the brooding of birds less closely related. The mating of cousins or grand-sires and grand-daughters are examples offline breeding. Here, the individuals of selected qualities are bred repeatedly to obtain chicks of those qualities like large number of eggs, big size of the eggs, increased body weight and other traits.

Out-crossing

The mating of birds of the same variety but of different strains is called out-crossing. The object is to hold the good traits already present in one family line and to capture the good one from the other strain. For example, one strain of White Leghorn may possess high egg production characteristics but the size may be small. Another strain of the same breed and variety may produce large sized egg but in lesser numbers. By crossing these two strains, it is expected that while egg production does not suffer materially but egg size will improve.

Cross breeding

Cross breeding is mating of individuals of different breeds and varieties. The resulting progeny is called a cross-bred. Cross breeding in chicken has resulted in higher hatchability, more efficient and faster gains and lower chick mortality. Hybrid vigour resulting from cross-breed is utilized extensively in broiler production.

Grading up

Grading up means mating of any pure-bred cock with hens of a non-descript or mixed flock to improve the quality of the hen’s progenies. The pure-bred cock used must be changed every year to avoid inbreeding, and no other cock should be there to dilute the effect. By introducing fresh cocks of the same pure breed, year after year to mate with successive generations of pullets, it is possible to get improved quality chicks at every generation. The chicks so obtained after the sixth generation will be almost like the pure-bred cock used throughout the grading process. Grading is a very important method to improve our village poultry.

Selection and Improvement 

Selection means choosing of birds for desirable characters like egg production, meat production, exhibition and breeding. Success in poultry production depends mainly on the quality of the birds selected and the breed. It can be very well compared to crop production, in the sense, a farmer who plants seed with low yielding ability gets a poor yield. Likewise a poultry breeder who selects poor males and hens for the breeding flock to start poultry farm will definitely run at a loss, no matter, whether good feed, management and disease control practices are adopted.

 

Selection or breed

There are many strains to choose from, which sometimes puzzles a rural poultry farmer in selecting the right type of chicken. Selection should, therefore, depend upon what he would like to produce eggs or meat or both. To get a good foundation stock, the following basic points may be considered.

 

The breed and its hereditary characters should be known.

 

The age of maturity should be known and the late maturing individuals can be excluded from the point of view of profit and maintenance.

The efficiency of feed conversion and egg production should be high i.e. feed consumption per one egg production should be less.

Production and growth rate should be persistent :

The strain should perform well in that particular arc under the ‘ conditions existing there.

It should be determined in advance, whether continued supplies of replacement stock would be available for continuing the production programme.

Selection for egg production

For egg production, it is necessary to consider whether it is the number or the size or the colour that is needed. For eggs, only such breeds are selected that possess all the qualities of a good layer, i.e. (1) quick maturity, (2) good stamina, (3) alertness, (4) good conformation and (5) capacity to lay a large number of standard size eggs.

A standard size egg in our country weighs about 2 ounce or 55- 60 grams. Eggs bigger than this are of no advantage as they are not likely to fetch a comparitively higher price in the market

White Leghorns and their hybrid strains like Babcock, Ranishavers, Unichix, Hyline, Hisex, HH-260, or Poone Pearls are very good for large number of good size egg production.

Hybrid strains lay either white or brown eggs. Though nutritionally there is no difference between white or brown eggs, the latter is preferred in our country.

Selection for meat

A good bird for meat should weigh about 2 kg at 10-12 weeks of age, though good broilers will attain this weight much earlier (7 weeks). A small compact bird of this weight is preferred to a heavy one because it is comparatively cheap and it also provides just sufficient meat for one meal thus avoiding wastage.

Plymouth Rocks, Cornish and New Hampshires are good breeds. A variety of hybrid strains is also available for meat production ego Indian River, Venkob, Ross broilers, Hubchix, Unichix etc. These birds grow rapidly, are very fleshy and heavy but are poor layers.

Dual purpose breeds for meat and eggs

The most popular dual purpose breeds are Rhode Island Reds and Australorps (refer booklet No. PLS-2). But these breeds may not be feasible or economical in our village conditions. What is required in the rural set up is an economical multipurpose bird that would be readily available at a cheap price; hardy and agile to escape predators; able to survive on free range without much care and attention; one that will brood well and one that can resist diseases to a high degree.

The indigenous or desi-birds are not good producers of eggs or meat, but under suitable environmental conditions and management, these may produce well. It may, therefore, be possible to produce birds of the required quality from among the village flock itself by careful selection and breeding in the village itself, either by grading up the desi bird with exotic cocks or cross-breeding of selected 4esi pullets with good exotic or cross-bred cocks.

Choice of birds

Just selecting the most suitable breed of poultry will not suffice; choosing individual birds for the village poultry units is equally important Selection of individual birds must be based on genetic potential for production. Healthy and vigorous birds are good breeders.

Selection of individual males and females for breeding may be based on the following characters.

Pedigree selection

A good individual with a good ancestry is preferable to an : equally good individual with a poor ancestry, but it should be emphasized that a good ancestry only improves the chances for better breeding performance and is no guarantee for such performance.

Vigour

It is the pre-requisite qualification for a bird to be used for breeding purposes. Birds with good vigour are active and take an interest in things going on around them. They walk, run, fly, scratch, cackle or crow and show sex interest They have a broad, long deep body, with a good feed conversion capacity. The head gives a good indication of the health of the bird. A large bright red comb indicates good vigour, while a small, pale or dark com b indicates low vitality.

Head

The appearance of the head is variable because of differences in size, shape and expression. Hens with coarse, phlegmatic, masculine or beefy heads are not likely to lay many eggs. Those with clear cut rugged, alert heads of good quality are likely to be the best layers among the flock.

Eye

A good breed should have bright, prominent, well placed eyes. They should not be depressed nor show evidence of physical debility. Pearly eyes and the retraced pupil are commonly associated with fowl paralysis.

Beak

The beak should be relatively short, strong, well curved and in proportion to the head of the bird. The mandibles should meet properly and not overlap or be deformed in any other manner.

Ear lobes

Ear lobes should be well developed, waxy and soft. Shrunken, wrinkled and coarse ear lobes signify a poor layer.

Neck

Stocky and a short neck is a quality of a good layer.

Condition of comb, vent and abdomen

A layer can be distinguished from a non-layer by closely examining the following parts of the bird.

Comb

The comb is a secondary sexual character. If the comb is dry, hard and scaly, the hen may still be laying but she will soon stop. If the hen is coming back into production, the comb begins to swell; the blood rushes to the tips of the points and they become hot, soft, waxy, brighten in colour and fall. The comb is reddest and hottest just before laying commences. As soon as laying starts the comb gradually cools and becomes somewhat lighter in colour.

Pubic bones

When a bird is laying, the pubic bones (the two small bones extending along the sides of the body towards the vent) are pliable with more than three finger space between them. During non-laying period the pubic bones become thin and pliable. In a poor layer, the pubic bones are stiff and close together with very little space between them.

Vent

The vent is much larger when the bird is laying than when she is not laying. During laying period it is oval shaped, pliable and moist.

Body conformation

To lay a large number of eggs a bird should have a good body with the following characteristics.

1. A flat broad back that carries well.
2. Good depth of body that increases towards the abdomen in, laying condition.
3. Good span between the pubic bones and keel bones.
4. Thin, straight pubic bones set well apart.
5. Good quality of skin (loose, pliable and velvety).
6. Legs set well apart and short; shanks smooth and clean; and short nails.
7. Reasonably long keel bone.
8. A bird should be well proportioned and have skeletal development consistent with its size.

Pigmentation

Pigmentation also gives some information regarding a bird’s past production, in case of hens having yellow skin and shanks. During the period of production, the yellow (xanthophyll) pigment in the feed is used for colouring the yolks and the body gradually loses its reserve supply of yellow pigment The approximate period of egg production required to bleach the body structures are as follows:

Vent :     1-2 weeks

Eye rings & earlobes :  2-4 weeks

Beak :     6-8 weeks

Shanks :    12-20 weeks

When the bird stops production, the pigments return twice as fast

Temperament

A good layer is more active, more alert, and yet at the same time more easily handled than a poor layer. They are hearty eaters; the appetite of a good layer is seldom satisfied.

Broodiness

Broodiness is the external evidence of the maternal instinct. If a bird is to lay well, it must not be broody much of the time. Breeders should also be selected for non-broodiness for the off springs to be good layers.

Moulting

In good layers, moulting is late, but regains normalcy in about 4 weeks and comes to lay quickly, unlike in poor layers where; moulting takes place early but takes about 3-4 months to return to normal.

 

Selection of pullets

Pullets start laying when they are about 20 weeks old, therefore birds must be selected at this age or little earlier. It has been recognized that the pullets which starts laying early are better layers and cost relatively less-to purchase and rear. If a poultry unit has to be run on profit, at least 600/0 of the birds in a unit must lay daily, which implies that from a unit of 10 pullets at least six eggs should be obtained in a day. So the birds must be carefully selected and unprofitable ones should be culled and sold without delay.

Culling of Poultry 

Culling can be defined as the elimination from the poultry flock, of those birds which are found to lack the qualities for which they were bred, whether it is egg production or for meat purposes. Culling and selection are often regarded as synonymous terms, though actually they have very little in common. Selection consists in choosing the best individual from a poultry flock for breeding purposes, whereas culling means weeding out the uneconomical birds and non producers.

Although one may start with a good stock, invariably there will be some chickens which do not grow well or hens which do not lay well. These birds not only reduce the efficiency of the flock but also require the same maintenance cost and attention as normal growing or good laying ones. Culling is, therefore, very important and should be a continual operation on every poultry farm -either small or large, throughout the year.

Equipment for culling

Catching the birds for culling may be a harrowing time for the poultry farmers, if any aid is not used. The catching crate can be very handy for this purpose. The crate is partitioned into two or three compartments. It should be set outside the pop-hole and the birds driven into it, the slides being replaced when the crate is full. If the pop-hole is above the ground level an adjustable unit, will provide a continuous passage from the house to the crate.

Preparation for culling

The birds should be handled very carefully throughout the culling operation. Care should be taken not to frighten laying birds and growing stock. The birds should be confined to their houses and all the openings of the house should be darkened by hanging sacks over them.

One end of the catching crate is placed over the exit of the poultry house and the birds are slowly driven into it, few at a time. Catching hooks should be used with discretion as they may injure or upset the birds and throw them out of production.

While examining, the bird should be held in a natural position, one hand holding the bird and the other hand should be free to handle; the head, wings etc. Birds should be removed from and replaced in the crate with head first

Culling of growing stock

The growing stock should be culled from time to time, to save on feed, prevent the spread of disease and to have a larger uniformity in the flock. Chicken which are obviously sick or lacking in vigour should be culled as soon as they are noticed. Some of the symptoms which indicate sickness and lack of vigour are (a) young chicken looking dull, (b) tending to huddle m a corner, (c) droopy feathers, (d) plumage lacking normal luster, and (e) chicken having gray or pearly eyes.

Some birds show poor feathering up to six or eight weeks of age. This condition may be due to overcrowding or certain deficiencies in the diet, but generally it is an inherited character. This birds should not be used for breeding but should be marked and sold as table birds at 10 or 12 weeks of growth.

The chicken with poor body shape and fleshing capacity should be culled. Long legged, narrow bodied, crooked breast bone and defective tail carriage should also be included in the culling list.

Culling of laying stock

The profits from a laying flock are directly related to egg 1 production. Since the cost of feed amounts to nearly 60% of the total cost of egg production, it is advisable to cull all the poor layers from the flock as soon as they are detected. Similarly those that have laid well for a short period but stop laying for some or the other reason should also be culled. The characters for selecting or culling the laying stock has already been described in the previous chapter ‘Selection and Improvement of Poultry’.

Effect of culling on egg production

It is normally believed that, by culling poor layers, there would be fewer total number of eggs produced by the flock, because many birds that are culled would have produced some eggs if they had remained in the flock. But the question is of not getting profit anyhow, rather the thrust should be on obtaining them at a profit. Profits in egg production are determined by taking into consideration the value of the total number of eggs produced by the flock during the year or for a given period in relation to the cost of producing them. ‘Thus the profit can be measured in terms of average number of eggs laid per bird for a given period. The following table gives a convenient form in which to record the number of eggs produced each day and the birds that die or are culled.

 

Table 1 : Daily egg production record

 

Sl.No	Date	October		November		December
		No. of females (first of month)		No. of females (first of month)		No. of females (first of month)
		No. of eggs	Birds	No. of eggs	Birds	No. of eggs	Birds
			Died culled		Died culled		Died culled
1
2
3
4
5
Total eggs per month Average eggs/bird/month Birds culled Birds died

 

The average egg production per bird can be circulated in three different ways:

• average egg production per bird per month (monthly average);
• average egg production per bird on a hen-day basis (hen-dayaverage); or
• average egg production per bird on a hen housed basis (hen-housed average).

Monthly average

The average egg production per bird per month is obtained by making two calculations. The number of birds at the beginning of the month is added to the number at the end of the month; and the total divided by two gives the average number of birds for the month. The total number of eggs laid during the month is divided by the average number? birds for the month gives the average number of eggs per bird during the month.

For example, if a flock of 100 birds on April I, consists of only 90 at the end of the month, the average number of bird for the month would

100+90

be =  ————- = 95

2

If the flock laid 1,800 eggs during the month, the average, egg

1800

production per bird for April   = ———– = 18.9 eggs

95

The draw back of this method is no information can be had regarding

the number of birds culled or dead during the month.

Hen-day average

A hen day average is obtained by dividing the number of eggs laid during a given period by the average number of birds on hand during the same period. The hen-day average is usually determined on monthly basis.

Example: Number of birds as on April 1   = 100

Number of hen-day = 100 x 30   = 3,000 hen days

If one bird is culled on April 5

there would be 3,000 -25    = 2.975 hen days

If one bird died on April 10,

there would be 2,975-20    = 2955 hen days

If two bird are culled on April 20,

there would be 2,955-(10×2)    = 2,935 hen days

If two birds die and 3 birds culled ,

on April 25, there would be 2935 -(5×5)  = 2,910 hen days

2910

Average number of birds in April =  ——– =97

30

If 1,800 eggs are produced by the

flock during the month,      1800

average number of birds per bird =   ——–= 1855

97

1800 x 100

Percentage of production for the month =    ————   =62%

2910

 

Hen-housed average

The hen housed average is obtained by dividing the total number of eggs produced during a given period by the number of birds in the flock at the beginning of the period. The hen housed average for April from the above example would be,

l8OO

———   = 18 per bird

100

The hen-housed average is usually obtained on yearly basis. The total number of eggs laid during the year is divided by the number of birds in the flock at the beginning of the year. This methods indicates the income potential from a flock.

The lesser the need for culling from time to time in order to maintain egg production at an efficient level, and the lesser the mortality during the year, the higher the average egg production per bird and greater the profits would be.

VII. Incubation and Hatching 

For economical production of poultry it is necessary that the flock is renewed every two years (in exceptional cases three years to  replace the birds that have died or have been culled or sold). It means that one-half to one-third of the flock must be replaced each year by new birds, usually chicks. It is always safer to hatch the chicks from eggs by incubation.

What is incubation?

Incubation can be defined as a process of multiplication of poultry stock by hatching out chicks from fertile eggs, naturally or artificially. Incubation can be done by setting eggs under a broody hen. This is called natural incubation. Eggs can also be hatched artificially in a machine incubator and this is known as artificial incubation. These incubators are worked by hot water or hot air with ! kerosene or electricity.

Whether natural or artificial incubation, the time taken for an egg to hatch out is the same. Incubation period of different birds is given below:

Fowls (chicken)  -21 days

Ducks    -28 days

Geese    -30 days

Guinea fowls   -26 days

Pheasant   -24 days

Pigeons   – 18 days

Quails    -18 days

Turkey   -28 days

The advantages and disadvantages of natural or artificial method of incubation are discussed in table 2.

 

Table 2 : Advantages and disadvantages of natural and artificial incubation

 

Sl.No	Natural method	Artificial method
1	With a broody hen	With a machine incubator
2	Cheaper: Fertile eggs 2-7 days old are kept under a broody hen	Costlier: fertile eggs 2-7 days old loaded into a tested machine- incubator
3	Only a small number of eggs (10-15) can be kept under one hen at a time	A large nu7mber of eggs (few hundred) can be arranged in trays and loaded into one incubator depending upon the size
4	Easy to secure a broody hen in a village at a low cost	Difficult to purchase a small efficient incubator: big ones cost thousands of rupees.
5	No technical expert is necessary to operate it as the broody hen can do the job herself	A trained person is necessary.  Moreover, an uninterrupted supply of kerosene/electricity is a must.
6	Turning of eggs daily will be done by the hen herself	Turning of eggs must be done by the owner/labourer or by a mechanical device.
7	Hatchability is good; 80-100 per cent	Hatchability is only 60-80 per cent
8	The mother hen takes very good care of the chicks after hatching	A foster mother or brooder is essential to rear the  chicks.

 

A villager with a small poultry unit normally prefers the natural incubation methods, as he can collect only a small number of eggs in a week’s time for hatching and they can easily be kept under one broody hen. Using an incubator for as mall number of eggs is not economical. A large number of eggs necessary to load in an incubator and which cannot be collected by a small farmer within 7 or 8 days, as each farmer may keep only few birds in his flock. If a  number of small farmers join together and collect all their eggs, there could be a possibility of using an incubator provided there is regular supply of electricity /kerosene. The incubation temperature required for chicken is 37.6° C (99.7S°F).

Selection of broody hen

Broodiness is a maternal instinct in all female hens; and very prominent and constant in the desi hens. She has a natural instinct to sit on eggs and also to take good care of the hatched chicks. A desi hen usually lays 10-20 eggs in a batch, five or six times a year. After each such lot, she becomes broody for a month or more.

Indications of a broody hen

• A broody hen does not lay eggs.
• She generally seeks dark, warm comers or nests, which she prefers to her companions outside.
• She is very dull and inactive.
• She ruffles her feathers and remains sitting when approached. e. She makes a characteristic clucking noise if disturbed.
• There is general lack of appetite and consequently the bird loses weight considerably.
• The shanks, beaks and comb become pale; and size of the comb and wattle are reduced.
• There is no lustre on the body or face.
• She does not drink water and her body temperature rises.

Test for broodiness

Care should be taken to see that the hen is properly broody. When the poultry keeper has only few eggs for setting, if some of them are broken or spoiled by an unsuitable broody hen, it can be disastrous to him. Sometimes it also happens that a hen shows signs of broodiness and the eggs are put under her. The hen after a day of sitting, may desert the nest, resulting in great loss to the poultry fanner.

To test whether a hen is properly broody, a few eggs (artificial or infertile) or egg-shaped pebbles are kept in front of her. She will collect them with her beak, take them under her chest, spread out her wings and quietly sit on them as if to hatch. This is called ‘Broody instinct’.

Some hens are clumsy and are apt to break the eggs every time they are out and resettled. It is therefore, necessary to watch the sitters carefully and only if a hen proves reliable, then only it is advisable to use her for the purpose.

• Preparing the broody hen for setting eggs
• Look for the signs of broodiness mentioned above and check if she had stopped laying eggs at least a week before setting.
• She must be perfectly healthy to sit on eggs for at least three weeks.
• A good broody hen should be fairly big in size with a broad chest, big wings and short legs. Very heavy or large hens with long legs will not serve the purpose well.
• She must be perfectly clean and healthy, free from worms and parasitic diseases especially ticks, mites, lice, fleas etc. It is advisable to have her dewormed a few days before setting.
• Scaly and long legged hens must be strictly avoided as they might cause breakage of eggs.
• Short legged hens with clean shanks are more reliable. The nails on the toes must be trimmed and the cut ends blunted to prevent breakage of eggs while sitting and turning.
• A good broody hen should teach the newly hatched chicks the art of picking up feed grains and to escape their predators at the slightest suspicion or caution. She must be very vigilant and a good forager.
• She should take care of her chicks for not more than 8 weeks, then get separated and come back to lay in 12-16 weeks after hatching.
• The broody hen must be fed lightly and watered before setting so that she will not be hungry or thirsty when set over the eggs.

 

• Hatching eggs

Eggs laid by the hens without mating the cock will not hatch out, as they are infertile without any germ inside to develop into a chick. Within 21 days a minute germ is transformed into a chick, by a rapid development and change within an egg. Therefore, no detail should be overlooked in giving the eggs every chance to hatch and to live, if any success in poultry enterprise is expected.

• Selection of eggs for hatching

All eggs laid by a hen are not fit for hatching. Suitable eggs that could be hatched-out should be carefully selected on the following basis.

• Fertility

Fresh eggs collected from vigorous and well matured hens, 5- 7 days after mating and within 2 days of separating the cock will be fertile enough for hatching. Eggs collected immediately on letting in the cock for mating or long after the separation of the cock the egg  may not be fertile.

• Egg size and shape

The size of the eggs used for hatching is important because the size of the chick hatched highly depends on the size of the egg. The eggs for setting should be neither too big nor too small, depending upon the breed. It is always desirable to select eggs of about 58 g each. Uniform sized and oval shaped eggs are good.

• Egg shell

The egg shell should be of uniform thickness, texture and colour so that the warmth can uniformly spread during incubation. In case of white shelled eggs, all eggs for incubation should be free i from tints. For brown coloured eggs medium and dark brown eggs: hatch better than the light brown eggs. When shell texture is poor due to deficiency of calcium or vitamin D, it results in low hatchability. All eggs should also be tested for cracked shells, as they should not be used for incubation.

• Egg quality

Eggs should be fresh and not stale, collected as early as possible after laying, at any rate within a week of laying. Very fresh eggs just laid on the day of setting may not be advisable to be set unless they attain the room temperature before setting. Eggs of 2- 4 days old are excellent

• Deformity

Eggs with any deformity such as ridges, encrustations, projections, depressions, cracks or stains should not be selected. Very thin shells may break during turning and will not retain uniform temperature for embryo to develop. If the shell is very thick, there will be difficulty for the chick to chip it with its tender beak and come out.

• Soiled egg

Soiled eggs should not be washed in water before setting, as washing with water opens up the pores and this interferes with the hatching results. If the dirt is not excessive, it should be removed with a knife. Highly soiled eggs should not be used.

• Storage

Eggs collected for setting should be kept in a dry, cool and airy place in order to get the best results. In hot weather, eggs should not be kept for more than 3 days and in winter or in hilly areas it can be kept up to 10 days.

As eggs absorb odour very easily, it is not good to store them near smelly substances like onion, garlic, kerosene etc. Eggs should be stored in a cool place with the broad ends up. Eggs shaken very much during transport will not be good for hatching.

• Nest for setting ,

A dark, well ventilated, quite place without much disturbance is preferred by all hens for the purpose of brooding. A basket with a mouth dimension of 45-50 cm is most commonly used in the villages. A broad mouthed mud pot broken horizontally just below the shoulders and kept mouth downwards supported by bricks at the bottom to prevent tilting, is also used by some people. A cheap packing case about 2 ft long, 2 ft broad and 1 ft high, is also very handy as a nest

The container must be half filled with moist sand and covered on top with cut straw, paddy husk or saw dust. Some wood ash may be spread on top and pressed to form a compact base with shallow depression. Wood ash also acts as a disinfectant to prevent ants and lice. Sulphur powder mixed with wood ash, sodium flouride and tobacco dust can be dusted on the container to keep off vermin.

The nest must be more or less circular with a shallow depression at the centre to hold the eggs together. It should be deep as there is the possibility of the eggs rolling to the centre and breaking.

• Best time to start hatching

The best time to raise chicken altogether depends upon the climate in which they are to be raised. July, August and September are the most favourable months for raising chicken in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh because of low rainfall and suitable room temperature. Before July the heat is very great and after September the winter is too much. Both the conditions are unfavourable for chicken.

In places like Simla, Nainital, Darjeeling and other hill areas where the cold is severe during winter and summer is moist, March, April, May and June are the favourable months for raising chicken.

In West Bengal and other places where there are no hot winds, chicken can be most successfully raised from October to end of March.

• Best time to set hen

The best time to set a hen is at night, as at this time she is more likely to settle down. Besides, when eggs are put under the hen at night the chicken are more likely to hatch out on the night of the 21st day, and will have the whole night to rest and gain strength.

• Setting the eggs for hatching

Ordinarily 10-15 average size hen’s eggs can be placed under i one broody hen. After the hen settles down, she has to be watched for sometime. She will slowly’ keep all the eggs under her chest, cover them well with her spread out wings and sit on them comfortably.

When the eggs are in their normal position, the yolk containing the germ (embryo) comes to the top because of lower specific gravity than the albumen (white). Thus a sitting hen transmits her body temperature through the eggs to the yolk (germ). After the hen returns from rest. she is invariably seen to shuffle the eggs by which the object of turning is accomplished. If the eggs remain in the same position without being shuffled, there is the possibility of the developing embryo sticking to one side of the shell and consequently death of the embryo.

• Care or sitting hens
• Before putting the hen on the eggs, she must be lightly fed and watered.

• The sitting J\en should receive clean water twice a day and adequate amount of whole grains and limestone grit The hen should not be fed with mash or greens during this period because there win be tendency for the hen to drop loose  droppings frequently and soil the eggs.
• She should be kept safe in a place where there is no disturbance from people.
• Hens ought to come off their eggs at least once every day. The temporary change from the cramped position is good for the hen, as she gets her food and a little exercise at the same time of the day. Also the exposure to the fresh air benefits the eggs. If the hen does oot come out of her nest. she may have to be lifted off the eggs (taking care that the eggs under her wings are not dropped and broken). She should be allowed to go back to her nest after 15-20 minutes.
• When the hen comes out, the nest must be carefully examined for vermin and prompt preventive steps taken. If it is not attended to in time, the hen may become rest less and may not sit properly resulting in poor hatchability.
• A dust bath may be provided in one comer of the room for the hen to clean her body if necessary when she comes out.
• If the hen shows any sign of sickness, examine her carefully.

If suspicious, it is better to get a substitute broody hen to sit on the eggs.

h The hen or the eggs should not be disturbed after the 18 day, because the chicks inside the eggs would have by then fully developed and would be attempting to come out when they need mother’s constant warmth, care and attention.

• Care of hatching eggs

After the eggs have been placed under the hen, it is necessary to inspect them every day. When the weather is very hot and dry, it may be necessary to sprinkle warm water of 102°F (38.9″C), over the eggs in order to give moisture. It is a good practice to sprinkle sulphur dust over the nest and eggs just a day or two before the chickens appear. Rats often are a nuisance as they steal eggs from: under hens. The only remedy is to keep the hen with her eggs in a box  with a good strong bottom and half inch mesh wire-netting sides. If an egg is broken during incubation, it should be removed immediately. The straw and sand should be changed; the remaining eggs washed with water (102°P) and reset.

• Testing eggs during incubation

If the eggs_have been collected from unknown sources or as a matter of precaution, it is better to test all the eggs for fertility on the 6th or 7th day by the time definite changes would be seen in the embryo. Infertile and bad eggs can be removed at this stage. This method of testing eggs is known as candling of eggs.

• Candling

A tube is made out of stiff paper or thin cardboard. Each egg is held between the thumb and fore finger; and held against the rays of the sun and examined through the tube. The eggs can also be examined against electric light in a similar way.

If the egg is perfectly transparent, like a new-laid egg, it is; infertile; but if a small dark body is seen floating about the centre of  the egg, it contains a chicken. These type of eggs also show spider like formation inside with radiating lines (which are actually the blood vessels). The infertile eggs that have been removed on the  6th or 7th day can be used for table or boiled, dropped and fed to: young growing chicks or to hen herself.

Candling on 18th day will also help us to detect the developed chicks inside.

Another method of testing is on the 18th or 19th day when the eggs are carefully let into warm water (exactly 1 02°P or 38.9″C) kept in a large bowl. After a minute the developed chicks within will wriggle and at times the chicken could be heard to cry out. The spoiled eggs will float. The eggs must remain only for a minute and then dried and put back under the hen. Under no condition should the temperature be more or less than IO2°P or 38.9OC.

• End of incubation

On the 20th day, the hen will sit tight on the eggs within which the developing chicks would be active. They start pecking on one side of the shell with their tiny beak and break open the shell into two halves and struggle to come out. A few healthy and strong chicks may come out on the 20th day itself. The empty shells should be removed as they might stick to other eggs and delay hatching. By the end of 21st day, the whole hatch would be normally completed. Chicks coming out after 22nd day should be removed as they will invariably be weaklings.

On hatching the chicks do not require any feed for 36-48 hours. They can be left with the mother hen till the end of 22nd or beginning of 23rd day. They can then be removed to a clean and warm box or brooder.

VIII Conclusion

Breeding, to an average villager, means mating his hens with a cock. He is not educated enough to undertake scientific breeding  of poultry in his village. But many of them will follow the fundamental principles of scientific breeding that are practicable in villages if they are properly instructed and guided by the extension workers.

Even among one’s own stock, selection for breeding should be done very carefully after taking into account all the aspects. The success in breeding will mainly depend on parent birds selected. Likewise a poultry farmer should not hesitate in culling an unprofitable, or weak bird on sentimental grounds. After all, the poultry farming has been taken up by him to obtain some profit to supplement his income.