BREEDING LINES OF COLOR-SEXABLE DAY-OLD CHICKS AND METHODS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

摘要

This invention relates to a method of producing a novel male parent line and a female parent line of meat-type chickens that are complementary to each other genetically so that upon mating the males of the male parent line to the female of the female parent line, the day-old chicks may be auto-sexed by down color by unskilled labor. The male chicks will be yellow-white down color, and the female chicks will be of reddish or buff down color. They may be readily separated by sex at the hatchery, transported to different brooder houses, and grown out separately on differently formulated feeds by sex; and although the female chicks may start with some red feathers, these feathers will 'fade out' in color and become white at broiler age. The male chicks start out with white feathers and retain white feathers at broiler age. Thus, all broilers are marketed with white feathers, eliminating any possibility for dark pin feathers on the dressed, eviscerated carcasses. This breeding model allows the option of mating the females of the female parent line with males of any orthodox commercial male parent line to produce unsexed day-old chicks, all with white-yellow down and subsequently all white feathers as broilers should any organization, broiler producer, farmer or company not be concerned with auto-sexing and growing sexes separately.