POULTRY
Hybrid or purebred: which is better?
W
hen deciding to
keep chickens
one of the first
and most important decisions
you need to make is which
type of bird best suits your
needs.
When it comes to breeds of
chickens, it is important to
consider whether the breed is
used for meat production, egg
laying or both purposes. Dual-
purpose breeds produce eggs
and quite a lot of meat.
However, another method of
classification is whether the
breed is pure-bred or hybrid.
The hybrid chicken is created
by crossing two or more
different pure breeds and
sometimes crossing further
after this.
There are hybrid crosses that
produce table birds and
hybrid crosses that produce
hens for laying.
More recently, breeders have
been producing hybrids that
have attractive egg colours.
These chicken breeds are
developed through careful
scientific selection and genetic
engineering in order to
maximise traits that are
desirable for commercial egg
production.
In contrast to the diversity of
pure breed varieties hybrids
Hyline hybrid ... popular in commercial operations
29
www.sasmallholder.co.za
generally have a uniform
shape with flat brown, white
or black colours predominat-
ing.
Hybrids do not breed true. If
a male and a female of the
same hybrid breed mate, then
the chicks do not grow up
exactly the same as their
parents.
There are a number of
benefits of using hybrids
instead of pure breeds. Since
the blood lines are so
different from the parents,
the offspring are usually very
fit and healthy. When
Continued on page 31