New highly productive russian cross of broiler chicken “Smena-9”

Relevance . The increasingly high volumes of poultry production predetermined a necessity in the constant targeted selection of poultry, advancement of the existing crosses and development of new lines and crosses with high genetic productivity potential which can be sustainably realized in the regions with different climatic and economic conditions. Methods . The productive performance of new russian cross “Smena-9” was assessed in relation to the productivity in cross “Smena-8” and to the different slaughter ages in the commercial-like conditions of the Center for Genetics & Selection “Smena”. Results . The selection of the preparental and parental lines of the new cross “Smena-9” resulted in the improvements of the mortality rate (lower by 0.8%), live bodyweight at 35 days of age (higher by 10.3%), dressing percentage (by 0.9%), breast filet yield (by 0.8%), feed conversion ratio (lower by 4.8%) in broilers of “Smena-9” cross as compared to “Smena-8”. These improvements, in turn, resulted in higher by 16.7% European productive efficiency index (EPEF). At slaughter age 5 weeks the output of meat per parental hen in “Smena-9” cross was 307.6 kg while in “Smena-8” it was 274.9 kg (lower by 11.9%). At slaughter age 6 weeks average daily weight gains in “Smena-9” broilers (74.0 g/bird/day) was higher in comparison to 5 weeks (63.4 g/bird/day) while feed conversion ratio increased from 1.67 to 2.12 kg/kg, resulting in the decrease in the EPEF from 382 to 345 points. The sensory evaluation of meat and broth of “Smena-9” broilers revealed high average scores. The conclusion was made that new cross “Smena-9” can be effectively used in the commercial broiler production.