Featherless Chickens Can Take The Heat
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Featherless chickens simplify the butchering process and they’re a lot more efficient in hot climate locations. Professor Avigdor Cahaner at Hebrew University in Israel believes that in the heat, they could reach market weight one week sooner compared to standard feathered broilers.
“This is not a different breed, rather an option that allows us to get featherless broilers from any existing breed,” Cahaner explains. “We develop a stock, which is similar to contemporary commercial broiler breeds, except that it carries the featherless gene. By mating males from our stock to females from any standard breed, featherless broilers of that breed can be produced. We are already at the point that we can offer such featherless males.” (Rates of chicks born featherless vary from 25 to 50 percent depending on the genotype of the breeders.)
Work started at the university in Rehovot, Israel, in 2000, when researchers imported chickens with a natural, spontaneous mutation called “Scaleless” found at the University of California in the mid 1950’s. The mutation was found in a breed of egg production chickens named New Hampshire.
Tapping into the gene for raising broilers is all about efficiency. Feathers make it more difficult to dissipate excess internal heat, which reduces appetite. Growth rate slows, increasing the number of days to marketing body weight, which adds to the cost of raising birds.
In addition, eliminating the need to grow feathers saves about 10 percent in feed costs.
The birds are meant for intensive production – raised inside – so sunburn and other weather conditions are not an issue. In fact, without feather holes, the chickens are less prone to skin infections. Without feather follicles, there’s no fat in the skin. Cahaner says the meat is redder, moister and has a better taste and consistency than feathered chickens, especially those reared under hot conditions. The breast meat yield is 2 to 3 percent higher because amino acids aren’t wasted on growing feathers.
Cahaner notes that the biggest challenge is to convince producers and consumers that featherless is better for broilers raised in hot broiler houses. They fit best when temperatures are more than 86 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no cooling system or the producer wants to save cooling costs. Growers in emerging countries have the option to build simple, inexpensive broiler houses, compared to expensive climate-controlled buildings.
Anyone interested in more information, can contact him through email.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Avigdor Cahaner, PhD, Professor of Quantitative Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Agriculture, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel (ph 972 8 9489214; http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/fieldcrops/staff-eng/cahaner.html; cahaner@agri.huji.ac.il).
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Featherless Chickens Can Take The Heat LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous Featherless chickens simplify the butchering process and they’re a lot more efficient in hot climate locations Professor Avigdor Cahaner at Hebrew University in Israel believes that in the heat they could reach market weight one week sooner compared to standard feathered broilers “This is not a different breed rather an option that allows us to get featherless broilers from any existing breed ” Cahaner explains “We develop a stock which is similar to contemporary commercial broiler breeds except that it carries the featherless gene By mating males from our stock to females from any standard breed featherless broilers of that breed can be produced We are already at the point that we can offer such featherless males ” Rates of chicks born featherless vary from 25 to 50 percent depending on the genotype of the breeders Work started at the university in Rehovot Israel in 2000 when researchers imported chickens with a natural spontaneous mutation called “Scaleless” found at the University of California in the mid 1950’s The mutation was found in a breed of egg production chickens named New Hampshire Tapping into the gene for raising broilers is all about efficiency Feathers make it more difficult to dissipate excess internal heat which reduces appetite Growth rate slows increasing the number of days to marketing body weight which adds to the cost of raising birds In addition eliminating the need to grow feathers saves about 10 percent in feed costs The birds are meant for intensive production – raised inside – so sunburn and other weather conditions are not an issue In fact without feather holes the chickens are less prone to skin infections Without feather follicles there’s no fat in the skin Cahaner says the meat is redder moister and has a better taste and consistency than feathered chickens especially those reared under hot conditions The breast meat yield is 2 to 3 percent higher because amino acids aren’t wasted on growing feathers Cahaner notes that the biggest challenge is to convince producers and consumers that featherless is better for broilers raised in hot broiler houses They fit best when temperatures are more than 86 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no cooling system or the producer wants to save cooling costs Growers in emerging countries have the option to build simple inexpensive broiler houses compared to expensive climate-controlled buildings Anyone interested in more information can contact him through email Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Avigdor Cahaner PhD Professor of Quantitative Genetics The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Agriculture P O Box 12 Rehovot 76100 Israel ph 972 8 9489214; http://departments agri huji ac il/fieldcrops/staff-eng/cahaner html; cahaner@agri huji ac il
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