Laying performance characteristics, egg quality, and integument condition of Saxonian chickens and German Langshan bantams in a free-range system
Ruben Schreiter, Markus Freick
Abstract
Indigenous poultry breeds represent an important animal genetic resource. However, their characteristics in respect of performance, product quality, and integument condition are often poorly investigated. Therefore, the local breeds Saxonian Chickens (SaChi) and German Langshan bantam chickens (GLB) of different plumage colours were characterised. The high-performing hybrid strain of Lohmann brown chickens (LB) served as the control group. For each group, 60 hens and 6 roosters were studied in an extensive free-range system from 21–80 weeks of life. The plumage and foot pad quality were scored on nine distinct observation dates and the measurements of the egg quality were performed at seven different time periods. The number of eggs per hen housed in the first laying year was significantly lower in the SaChi (146.4 ± 30.8) and the GLB chickens (107.8 ± 20.4) when compared to the LB chickens (295.0 ± 16.8) (p<0.001). Regarding laying performance, we detected effects of plumage colour within both local breeds (p<0.001). Within 4/7 plumage colours, effects of the breeder were also found (p≤0.037). The eggs of the local chicken breeds showed lower egg weights (p<0.001), shell breaking strength (p≤0.041), albumen consistency (p<0.001), and a lower egg shape index (p<0.001), but higher proportions of yolk (p<0.001) when compared to the eggs of the LB chickens. The logistic regression models for the plumage and footpad condition demonstrated that the SaChi and GLB hens underwent less plumage loss and footpad swelling than the LB hens (p<0.001). Overall, this study shows that the laying performance of the local breeds was significantly lower, but there were noticeable advantages in terms of egg composition and animal welfare indicators when compared to a high-performing hybrid strain. In further studies and the use in extensive production systems, the observed performance differences between plumage colours and breeders should be taken into account.