Primary broiler breeding--striking a balance between economic and well-being traits

Primary breeders are well aware that selecting for better health and well-being along with economic traits such as faster growth rate, higher levels of meat yield, and improved efficiency of feed utilization are critical to balanced long-term genetic progress of their pure lines as well as to increased production efficiency of broiler products for the broiler industry. Cobb collects and selects on over 50 phenotypic observations per pedigree candidate at various ages. Over 50% of these collections are involved with evaluation of each bird's health, welfare, and fitness. Some examples of these traits are various chick defects, various broiler age skeletal and leg abnormalities, feather cover, various physiological measures of heart and lung functions, and specific causes of mortality. Large pedigree populations, massive data collection infrastructure, integration of better technologies in evaluation of phenotypes, and sophisticated data analysis capability have allowed geneticists to perform selections that are balanced for both economic and welfare traits. Cobb's internal as well as worldwide sponsored research has facilitated geneticists to make science-based breeding decisions. Each pedigree line per product available to primary breeders exhibits their own unique characteristics that are enhanced by selective breeding and positioned in special mating schemes to produce the product and welfare performance that our customers demand. Additionally, most if not all primary breeding companies now offer different products for different markets that exhibit varying levels of performance and behavior to fit customer needs. Future expansion of these products and creation of new products by breeding companies will be in large dictated by both our customers and consumers.