隐性白羽鸡

隐性白羽鸡

　　【Breed Type and Origin】

　　It belongs to fast-growing white-feathered broiler chickens. It was bred from White Plymouth Rock (or White Wyandotte). It originated in France.

　　1 Main Characteristics This breed is robust, gentle in temperament, with moderate early growth rate and good reproductive performance. It has a large body shaped like an ingot, with a broad and deep chest and a plump physique. The whiteness of its feathers is a recessive trait. The skin and shanks are yellow. The eggshell is light brown. The feather color modifier genotype of French recessive white-feathered chickens is bbeess. When crossed with purebred colored-feathered chickens, the offspring exhibit the feather color of the mate breed; the ratio of fast to slow feathering is 65:35.

　　2 Conservation Method The National Local Chicken Breed Gene Bank (Jiangsu) introduced the breed in 2000 for off-site conservation.

　　【Production Performance】

　　1 Adult Weight and Meat Production Performance Average weight: 12-week-old cocks weigh 2346.1 grams, hens 1882.1 grams. 12-week-old semi-eviscerated dressing percentage: cocks 84.23%, hens 82.22%; fully eviscerated dressing percentage: cocks 73.04%, hens 70.83%.

　　2 Reproductive Performance Reach peak egg production at 31 weeks, with a peak laying rate of 78.38%; 174.5 eggs laid by 63 weeks of age; by 68 weeks, average per hen is 190 eggs, 184 hatching eggs, and 143 chicks.

　　【Development and Utilization】

　　The application of recessive white-feathered chickens in quality chicken crossbreeding systems has played a significant role in advancing China's high-quality chicken industry. In the 1990s, China imported a large number of recessive white-feathered chickens from abroad, mainly for crossbreeding with domestic breeds, using mostly three-way crosses to produce quality yellow-feathered broilers. A series of crossbreed strains emerged, such as “Baiyun 288,” “Xinxing Yellow,” “Kangdaer,” “Jiangcun Yellow,” and “Lingnan Yellow,” quickly reaching scaled production levels. This breeding approach overcame the shortcomings of low egg production and slow growth in native Chinese breeds, while retaining yellow feathers, yellow legs, and yellow skin traits. The parent generation’s egg production improved markedly, and the growing period of commercial offspring was significantly shortened.

　　Source: Jiangsu Institute of Poultry Science