POULTRY
From page 29
crossing certain strains of
birds, you can get “hybrid
vigour” where a chick is
better than either of its
parents.
Their weight varies ~ layers
are usually light, fast maturing
with good feed conversion.
Table hybrids are heavy, to
provide a good carcass in a
short time, so are extremely
fast to mature.
In South Africa, indigenous
chickens, including Potch
Koekoeks and Boschvelders,
are today usually a mixture of
breeds because the birds
have bred freely. The
indigenous breeds are usually
well suited to their areas, but
grow slowly and produce
fewer eggs than a hybrid bred
for egg laying.
Well known hcommercial
ybrids in South Africa are the
Harco layer, Hyline layer and
Ross and Cobb 500 broilers.
In today's commercial poultry
production, only hybrid
Pure-bred Orpingtons in two colourations
chickens or cross-breeds are
usually selected for meat and
egg production.
For example, they will lay
more eggs than the special or
the dual purpose chicken
breeds. They usually lay large
eggs, which could either be
white or brown, de pending
on the chicken breed.
The hybrid chickens also have
a very good feed efficiency.
They will eat less food per
kilogram of weight gained or
per kilogram of eggs pro-
duced. The male chicks of the
hybrid layers grow very fast
and can be slaughtered for
extra income from poultry
meat sales.
Hybrid broilers are also quite
advantageous. They grow
faster than pure breeds and
have excellent feed conver-
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sion ratio making them very
profitable to grow as they
produce more breast meat
than pure poultry breeds.
As a consequence of their
prolific egg laying hybrids can
be very active which means
they can be slightly more
aggressive towards each
other. Their environment may
suffer as they energetically
scratch and forage. However,
their inherent hardiness,
predictability and cheaper
cost price make them a good
choice for the beginner or
anyone who is looking for a
consistent egg supply.
Pure-bred chickens are
Continued on page 33