Sexing of day old chicks  sex separate rearing Brooding Vaccination Beak trimming Dubbing – trimming of terminal portion of over grown combs (avoids fighting and dominance behaviour in males) Clipping of toes Selection of male(cockerels) and females (pullets) Feed restriction Sex wise rearing should be practiced till puberty After attaining sexual maturity  males and females are housed in same pens or separate rearing of cock in cages  females should be introduced to cocks pens in the afternoon time Growth rate Mature body size Egg laying ability – egg number body conformation, bleaching moulting order Breed characteristics – plumage and skin colour Fertility and vigour HEALTH & VIGOUR Bird should be active and alert and respond immediately to external stimuli. It should be healthy and should not show any sign of disease. Eyes should be round, bright and prominent. Poor layer without the above signs, will have pale skin and shrunken eyes Moulting is an annual physiological phenomenon of shedding of old feathers and replacing them with new feathers. In a good layer, moulting commences at the end of the first laying season and completes the moult early. In a poor layer, it will commence early and is prolonged. There is a definite pattern. It starts from the head, passes on to neck, back and tail and then the primary and secondary feathers. Moulting is also governed by physical conditions such as season, light, feed etc. Pigmentation is also a good indication of reproductive status of a layer, but can be depended upon only in a bird with yellow skin and the feed also has adequate carotenoid pigments. The pigmentation is full and intense at the start of lay throughout the entire skin, shank, beak, earlobe and eye rings. As the bird starts laying, the above parts get bleached in the following order. Vent 0-7 days  Eye ring 7-14 days Ear lobe 2-3 weeks Beak (back to tip) 4-6 weeks Bottom of feet 2 months. As the bird stops-laying, pigments reappear in the reverse order (Vent portion is lastly pigmented). A poor layer will have intense pigmentation of the above parts relative to the production level. Depending on the level of pigmentation, the bird can be described as well bleached, fairly well and bleached poorly.

1. JUDGING & SELECTION OF
BREEDERS
Prepared by
Dr. Harshini Alapati (M.V.Sc Poultry science)
Contractual Teaching Faculty
Dept of LFC
Veterinary College, Hassan
KVAFSU, Karnataka

2. • Sexing of day old chicks  sex separate rearing
• Brooding
• Vaccination
• Beak trimming
• Dubbing – trimming of terminal portion of over grown combs (avoids
fighting and dominance behaviour in males)
• Clipping of toes
• Selection of male(cockerels) and females (pullets)
• Feed restriction
MANAGEMENT OF BREEDERS

3. Meat type or Broiler breeders Egg type or Layer breeders
Selection of males @ 5 wks age Selection of males @ 12 wks age
 Sex wise rearing should be practiced till puberty
 After attaining sexual maturity  males and females are housed in
same pens
or
 separate rearing of cock in cages  females should be introduced to
cocks pens in the afternoon time

4. • Growth rate
• Mature body size
• Egg laying ability –
egg number
body conformation,
bleaching
moulting order
• Breed characteristics –
plumage and skin colour
• Fertility and vigour
General criteria of selection for breeders
Age
Broiler breeders Layer breeders
Male Female Male Female
20 wks 2.6 2.0 1.6 1.3
40 wks 3.5 2.5 1.7 1.5

5. CRITERIA POINTS
1 HEALTH & VIGOUR 25
2 GENERAL CONFORMATION & ABDOMINAL CAPACITY 25
3 MOULTING & PLUMAGE 15
4 PIGMENTATION 10
5 CONDITION OF HEAD, WATTLE, VENT & OTHERS 25
TOTAL 100
JUDGING OF LAYER BREEDERS

6. HEALTH & VIGOUR
• Bird should be active and alert and respond immediately to external
stimuli.
• It should be healthy and should not show any sign of disease.
• Eyes should be round, bright and prominent.
• Poor layer without the above signs, will have pale skin and shrunken
eyes

7. GENERAL CONFORMATION & ABDOMINAL CAPACITY
Good layer Poor layer
Abdomen Broad back, spacious abdomen with
abdominal fat and large, full , soft and
pliable
Narrow, hard and
contracted with fat
Distance between 2
pelvic bones
>2 fingers width < 2 fingers width
Distance between
pelvic and keel bone
> 4 fingers width
Skin
3 fingers width
Skin Thin and velvety Thick and coarse

10. MOULTING & PLUMAGE
• Moulting is an annual physiological phenomenon of shedding of old
feathers and replacing them with new feathers.
• In a good layer, moulting commences at the end of the first laying season
and completes the moult early.
• In a poor layer, it will commence early and is prolonged.
• There is a definite pattern. It starts from the head, passes on to neck, back
and tail and then the primary and secondary feathers.
• Moulting is also governed by physical conditions such as season, light, feed
etc.
 A good layer will have dirty, worn out
feather,
 A good layer converts feed into eggs
 A poor layer will have bright velvety
feathers.
 Poor layer diverts the feed for feather
making and maintenance.

12. PIGMENTATION
• Pigmentation is also a good indication of reproductive status of a layer, but can
be depended upon only in a bird with yellow skin and the feed also has adequate
carotenoid pigments.
• The pigmentation is full and intense at the start of lay throughout the entire skin,
shank, beak, earlobe and eye rings.
• As the bird starts laying, the above parts get bleached in the following order.
Vent 0-7 days  Eye ring 7-14 days Ear lobe 2-3 weeks Beak (back to
tip) 4-6 weeks Bottom of feet 2 months.
• As the bird stops-laying, pigments reappear in the reverse order (Vent portion is
lastly pigmented).
• A poor layer will have intense pigmentation of the above parts relative to the
production level.
• Depending on the level of pigmentation, the bird can be described as well
bleached, fairly well and bleached poorly.

13. Order of bleaching of body pigment
• Vent
• Eye Ring
• Earlobe
• Base of Beak
• Tip of Beak
• Bottom of Foot
• Shank
• Hock and Tip of Toe

17. CONDITION OF HEAD, WATTLE, VENT & OTHERS
Good layer Poor layer
Head Flat from side to side (tapering ) Round shape
Eyes Bright and alert Dull and sleepy
Comb Full grown, bright, warm, soft and
velvety without any scales or
discoloration
Shrunken, dry, scaly, cold and
rough to touch
Vent Large, oval and moist Dry, small and round shape

21. CRITERIA POINTS
1 GENERAL APPEARANCE 10
2 HEALTH & VIGOUR 15
3 BREAST 30
4 BACK & RIB 15
5 LEG & THIGH 15
6 FEATHERING 15
TOTAL 100
JUDGING OF BROILER BREEDERS

22. General Appearance
Bird should have a compact body, broad and fleshy comb should be
medium in size with bright and prominent eyes.
Birds should be free from common defects such as breast blisters,
crooked keel, split wing, coarse beak, injuries etc.
skin should be smooth and pliable.
Health and Vigour
Birds should be apparently healthy and free from any signs of
disease like unthriftness, pale or cyanotic comb etc.
Excessive fat is undesirable.

24. Breast
• Wide and heavily fleshed, keel bone should be straight, long and parallel to the
back.
• May have very slight curve but should not be crooked.
• Breast can be measured in terms of breast angle and by measuring the girth.
Back and Rib
• Back should be broad and long from front to tail, ribs wide enough.
Legs and Thigh
• Bird should have normal legs of moderate length and well fleshed.
• Long and thin legs are undesirable, while thick plumpy legs are preferred.
Feathering
• Should be closely feathered spreading uniformly on the body.
• It may have small area of scattered pin feather which when present should be long
enough for easy removal upon processing.
• Bare back grades down the broilers