Initiative for the conservation of old poultry breeds

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Initiative for the conservation of old poultry breeds
purpose Conservation of genetic resources in poultry
Chair: Katrin Stricker
Establishment date: 2008
Seat : Bad Laer
Website: preservationzucht-gefluegel.de

The initiative for the preservation of old poultry breeds is a nationwide association founded on January 11, 2008 in Deersheim (Harz) with the aim of preserving the genetic resources of poultry by keeping and breeding old poultry breeds that are threatened with extinction . To achieve this goal, the practical implementation follows the proposals of the National Program for the Conservation and Use of Animal Genetic Resources in Germany .

tasks and goals

Breeders with a wide range of interests joined forces in the initiative. In addition to pure hobby breeders of the Federation of German Racial Poultry Breeders (BDRG) and members of the Society for the Conservation of Old and Endangered Pet Breeds (GEH), there are also economically oriented part-time farmers and organic farms who are interested in the marketing of their products and the corresponding good performance of the animals.

The association therefore strives to develop a breeding community for the conservation of poultry breeds and their use for commercial purposes. This is supposed to go through

  • the elaboration of general concepts for breeding and hygiene,
  • a central stud bookkeeping of decentralized maintenance breeding and
  • the organization of necessary agreements between existing breeding rings

respectively.

Alongside the GEH, the initiative is one of the few organizations that set up and maintain conservation breeding rings nationwide. In accordance with the proposals of the “National Program for the Conservation and Use of Animal Genetic Resources in Germany”, the association is also developing new breeding concepts that combine economic efficiency and conservation breeding principles.

Targeted conservation breeding and breeding bookkeeping

In recent years the need to preserve genetic diversity in farm animals has become increasingly recognized. The genetic diversity of most livestock populations that are intensively managed in terms of breeding is dwindling with increasing dynamism. High selection intensities, the consequences of the application of biotechnology and the global and massive use of less selected breeding animals lead to a barely noticeable genetic narrowing.

The chicken was specialized in fattening or laying performance. In laying hens cover breeding three breeding groups of companies (each with 1 to 3 individual breeding company) the entire world market of laying hens to produce white and braunschaliger eggs. With Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH one of these companies is based in Germany. In the mast direction, three companies also dominate 90% of the world market. In turkey breeding is operated by three companies operating globally. In the case of waterfowl (geese and ducks), fewer than 5 of the 20 breeding companies in the world make up the "by far largest part" of the parent lines. The keeping of reserve lines is of secondary importance in commercial poultry farming.

Most of the races and populations that were found in Germany are kept by hobby breeders and selected according to their appearance according to the breed standard . A targeted conservation of genetic diversity within and between the races does not take place in this context. This requires a breeding bookkeeping and the systematic minimization of inbreeding in small populations that this makes possible. The species of poultry (unlike cows, pigs, goats and sheep, for example) are not anchored in the Animal Breeding Act. An official herdbook breeding for the individual breeds is therefore not implemented. Breeding is usually carried out without any precise knowledge of the animals' origin. A systematic record of parentage, as is the case with large animals, is hardly available. This can lead to significant inbreeding increases in small populations. There are only a few approaches specifically for performance recording that can also promote this area in breeding.

In the Association of German Pure Bred Poultry Breeders , the studbook for recording parentage and performance data has a long tradition, but participation in the studbook with 5% of all breeds is very low. The main reason is assumed to be the high expenditure for the hobby breeder to control the hatch and the falling nests.

With a central computer-aided stud bookkeeping system, based on the long-term experience of the Vorwerkhuhn conservation breeding ring (and the black Sachsenhuhn), which can be adapted to the needs of the conservation breeding of a breed, the association can support decentralized conservation breeding in the targeted selection of their breeding animals. In 2015 the association looked after the following breeding rings and stud books:

  • Vorwerkhenne

  • Bresse chicken

  • Cröllwitz turkey

  • Yellow Ramelsloher

  • Bergischer Kräher

Kollbecksmoorhuhn project

The association also oversees a private project for the breeding and marketing of a new cross between Vorwerkhähnen and white Plymouth rock hens , which is intended to preserve an old, robust breed, the genetic resource "Vorwerkhuhn". With the surplus roosters from the maintenance breeding of the Vorwerk chicken, dual-purpose chickens with a laying capacity of 250 eggs per year and good fattening characteristics are produced. This corresponds to the laying performance of the dual-purpose hen "Lohmann Dual". The old Vorwerkshuhn is to be retained as the starting line for the new crossbreeding, the "Kollbecksmoorhuhn", and to regain importance for economic niche production.

The profit from the sale of the crossbred animals supports the preservation of old poultry breeds in pure breeding. The suitability of other breeds for establishing such crossbreeds is being examined.

The Institute for Farm Animal Genetics Mariensee of the Federal Research Center for Agriculture (FAL), the Weser-Ems Chamber of Agriculture, the breeding company Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH and the performance testing center of the Bavarian State Institute for Agriculture in Kitzingen are involved in the project.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Board of Directors on the initiative's website , accessed on April 1, 2019
  2. ↑ Tasks and goals of the association. In: erieltzucht-gefluegel.de. Initiative for the conservation of old poultry breeds, accessed on December 30, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b statutes of the association "Initiative for the preservation of old poultry breeds" eV (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: erieltzucht-gefluegel.de. Initiative for the preservation of old poultry breeds, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 2, 2016 (PDF in Google Cache). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.erhaltungszucht-gefluegel.de
  4. ↑ a b c Maintenance breeding ring for Vorwerkhühner. The Kollbecksmoor Chicken. In: vieh-ev.de. A diverse initiative for the conservation of old and endangered domestic animal breeds , accessed on December 30, 2015 .
  5. ^ Animal genetic resources in Germany . 2008, Chapter: 4.1.1 Monitoring and documentation of performance, population structures and inbreeding in current breeding populations, p.  50 .
  6. ↑ a b c Animal Genetic Resources in Germany . 2008, Chapter: 4.1.2 Poultry, p.  50 ff .
  7. ↑ Antje Feldmann: Workshop on conservation measures for endangered poultry breeds at the International Green Week Berlin on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012. In: geh.de. Society for the Preservation of Old and Endangered Pet Breeds (GEH), accessed on January 2, 2016 .
  8. ^ Annika Bromberg: Report from the GEH Symposium - Conservation of Endangered Poultry Breeds . In: GEH (Ed.): Arche Nowa . No. 2/2012 , p. 7 ( online [PDF; accessed on January 2, 2016]). online ( memento of the original from January 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geh.de
  9. ^ Stud book. In: erieltzucht-gefluegel.de. Initiative for the conservation of old poultry breeds, accessed on January 2, 2016 (accessed from Google Cache).
  10. ↑ Breeding rings. In: erieltzucht-gefluegel.de. Initiative for the conservation of old poultry breeds, accessed on December 30, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Lutz Reidt: Good taste and lots of eggs. How old breeds of chicken are bred for economy. In: deutschlandfunk.de. Deutschlandradio, July 10, 2007, accessed December 30, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Marion Meyer-Radtke: The dream of the miracle chicken comes true. In: welt.de. WeltN24, January 24, 2013, accessed December 30, 2015 .