Selection responses in duration of fertility and its consequences on hatchability in the intergeneric crossbreeding of ducks

Abstract

From 1992 to 2003, selected (S) and control lines (C) of the laying Brown Tsaiya duck (Anas platyrhynchos) were simultaneously maintained under the same standardised conditions of feeding and management. The selection objective was to increase the number of fertile eggs after a single artificial insemination (AI) with pooled Muscovy semen. From generations G1 to G11, 2452 and 2022 female ducks, in S and C lines, respectively, were measured and recorded. In the S line, the percentage selected varied between 20·2 and 34·3% in females and between 7·2 and 20·8% in males. Selection for number of fertile eggs had a correlated effect of increasing the parameter τ of the logistic curves which fitted the daily variations (d 2 to 15) in fertility or hatchability on the basis of eggs set. The differences S − C for the estimates of the times of half maximal fertility and hatchability increased by 0·41 and 0·37 d per generation between G1 and G11, respectively. The highest increases of fertility per day rates after a single AI were observed between d 5 and 11. Moreover, in the selected line, fertility rate was higher than, or equal to, 90% in d 2 from G8. The same tendencies were observed for the changes in the evolution of hatchability on the basis of eggs set. Selection increased fertility and hatchability according to the egg set rates, especially for d 2 to 8 after AI. Hatchability of fertile eggs was not impaired, confirming that selection for one AI per week was possible in this strain of laying ducks.