PHOTOS: DICK VAN DOORN
GENETICS ▶▶▶
Search for a well-balanced dual-purpose bird
Research in Germany supports the introduction of dual-purpose chickens. The project RegioHuhn is currently underway at three institutes and 19 Naturland farms with the aim of developing crosses of local breeds with high-performing hybrids. In addition, the Huhn³ project focuses on setting up a purebred breed based on well- balanced laying, growth and animal welfare parameters.
PhD student Senta Becker, Dr Inga Tiemann, PhD student Ver- ena Meuser and Ludger Beesten, specialist from Reudink, (l to r), in front of the modern barn with a viewing area and information boards about the research into dual-purpose chickens.
BY DICK VAN DOORN T
he German research into dual-purpose chickens began at the University of Bonn in March 2019. The reason for this large-scale research into dual-purpose hens was the ban on killing day-old male chicks
(OKT) in laying lines. Since 1 January of this year, laying hen farmers in Germany producing table eggs are legally obliged to be OKT-certified. In addition, Germany wants to move even further towards sustainable egg and poultry meat production in parallel to the in-ovo sexing of eggs. Both projects, Regio- Huhn and Huhn³, are led by Dr Inga Tiemann of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering and focus on precision poultry farming. RegioHuhn is carried out by three German research institutes: the Institute of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Bonn, the Bavarian State Research Centre for Ag- riculture and the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute/Institutes for Farm
Animal Genetics. The German organisation Naturland is also involved in this study and practical research into dual-purpose chickens is being carried out on 19 Naturland poultry farms. Huhn³ focuses on the development of dual-purpose charac- teristics within one genotype, e.g. the English Ixworth, along with the description of management guidelines.
Two approaches for dual-purpose The goal of a dual-purpose chicken with a reasonable per- formance for both eggs and meat, as well as achieving high welfare levels, also form part of the Huhn³ project. The project is supported by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. PhD student Senta Becker (MSc Animal Sciences) is leading the research on the Ixworth, a well known dual-purpose breed although not in commercial use for decades. As Becker explains: “This breed had already been specially developed in England as a dual-purpose breed. We are focusing on the development of – genetic – dual-purpose traits for laying performance in hens and growth performance in roosters. But we also need to adjust the management compared to
32 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 7, 2022
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