A note on dual purpose breeding

Charles Paredes^*
*Correspondence: Charles Paredes, Department of Poultry Science, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, USA, Email:

Received: 29-Jan-2022, Manuscript No. AHPF-22-52470; Editor assigned: 01-Feb-2022, Pre QC No. AHPF-22-52470 (PQ); Reviewed: 16-Feb-2022, QC No. AHPF-22-52470; Revised: 21-Feb-2022, Manuscript No. AHPF-22-52470 (R); Published: 28-Feb-2022

Description

In the modern day, factory farm chickens are kept for laying or meat production. So, a dual-purpose breed is generally regarded as a chicken breed that lays a more number of eggs but is still large enough to process extra roosters and older hens, and take to market.

Layers are kept particularly for the purpose of egg production. So, layers may also called as “Production breeds.” Broilers are also known as “meat birds,” are large-bodied and grow very fastly. Many are just 6 weeks old when they are processed. The main use of Dual Purpose Breeds (DPB) is considered to avoid killing of day-old male chicks of layer lines as male chicks has slow growth rate when compare to day-old female chicks. As day old male chicks have a poor feed conversion rate, DPB have been developed by commercial breeding companies. Another use of Dual Purpose Breeds would also have huge requirement for feed, land and water resources. Backyarders don’t want to process their birds because dual-purpose breeds are among the most popular for backyard flocks. Mostly larger birds are flight very less due to heavy bodies they can’t fly over the fences. So the larger birds can tolerate cold conditions in winter season.

Dual Purpose Breed having both advantages and disadvantages. To raise dual purpose breeds much more attention is required. On the same way they are many benefits/ profits in marketing for DPB. The great achievement is growing a flock of birds in backyard. If we take care of DPB with long term investment will have great returns. Genetic variations have both advantages and disadvantages in DPB. Advantage is genetic differences ensure superior qualities for dual-purpose chickens over other breeds. Disadvantage qualities play an important role in their survival and production of eggs and meat. Genetic variation is also a negative trait among different breeds of chickens. Be careful that right breed should be selected, you may end up raising less economic chickens. Before that you need to decide whether you want to raise layers or broilers to maximize. your profits in meat and eggs. When compared to layers, broilers are physically different because there are two groups of chickens are bred due to some different reasons. As broilers are meat producing chickens they are somehow heavier, early maturing and larger when compared to layers. The opposite is true for egg layers. There are differences in flavours of meat because no single bird cannot have the traits equally. More often there would be different types of cooking methods some may add more spices for cooking while some may add less spices for their cooking method. This means they exercise a lot which in turn affects their productivity. So from this we need to select whether to raise layers (for eggs) or broilers (for meat production). Light Sussex Hens, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks. Brahma Roosters, Delaware Chickens, Ixworth Chickens, Marsh Daisy Chickens these are the breeds used for the dual purpose. Layers start laying eggs commercially from 18-19 weeks of age. They continue laying eggs continuously till their 72-78 weeks of age. Broilers lay eggs at 5-6 months. They lay 250 eggs per day.