Dual-purpose production of eggs and meat — Part 1: cockerels of crosses between layer and meat breeds achieve moderate growth rates while showing unimpaired animal welfare

The use of modern chicken genotypes with high egg or meat performance results in the ethically unacceptable practice of culling day-old male layer chicks because of their inefficient fattening performance. Dual-purpose genotypes with a balanced performance profile for both eggs and meat are one option to avoid this practice. In this study, four chicken crosses of a layer breed (White Rock or New Hampshire) and the meat breed Bresse Gauloise were compared under the conditions of organic agriculture. Purebred Bresse Gauloise and the layer hybrid Lohmann Sandy served as controls. Part 1 of this study focused on the fattening performance of the cockerels, which were reared together with the pullets. The birds were housed in a floor system (9.9–20.7 kg live weight per m2 at the end of week 15) with access to a green outdoor run. Live weight of the crosses before slaughter at the age of 15 weeks ranged between 2355 and 2447 g and did not differ significantly between the genotypes. With average daily gains of 22.1–22.8 g, the crosses grew slower than Bresse Gauloise males (26.1 g) but faster than Lohmann Sandy males (15.9 g). Welfare assessment indicated a generally high level of welfare with no foot pad lesions or hock burns on any of the cockerels. Fattening dual-purpose cockerels can therefore be an ethically desirable option with a high level of animal welfare and a better fattening performance than in male layer chicks, but still requires more resources than the fattening of specialised broilers.