New “Snow land white chicken” breed from Tibet passes national examination

2021-01-28

On January 8, the “Snow land white chicken” was approved by the National Animal and Poultry Genetic Resources Committee. It became the first new breed of laying hen independently cultivated by Tibet Autonomous Region, achieving a new breakthrough in Tibetan chicken breeding.

It is jointly bred by the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the Tibet Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences, the Lhasa Poultry Fine Breeds Research on Protection and Promotion Center, and China Agricultural University.

The “Snow land white chicken” breeding base.

“Snow land white chicken”

In order to improve the production performance of this type of Tibetan chicken, the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the Tibet Autonomous Region Academy of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Sciences introduced the fine layer breed White Loghorns for the first time in 1958. They carried out breeding experiments such as adaptability and improvement of reproduction level. However, due to the high-altitude natural environment, the technical problems of purebred White Loghorns incubation could not be solved. Therefore, a cross-breeding study with White Loghorns as the male parent and local Tibetan chicken as the female parent was carried out. Since then, the foundation for the research of “Snow land white chicken” colony and artificial egg hatching on the plateau has been laid.

Through four consecutive years of systematic breeding for three generations, various production performances of the “Snow land white chicken” have been significantly improved. The body appearance is more consistent, the heritability is stable, and all indicators have reached the standard of breed group.

In 1990, “Snow land white chicken” was evaluated as a light egg product population by the Tibet Autonomous Region Animal Genetic Resources Committee, and it won first prize at the Tibet Autonomous Region Science and Technology Progress Awards, as well as third prize at the National Science and Technology Progress Awards.

White eggs laid by “Snow land white chicken”.

The entire selection process of “Snow land white chicken” has gone through a long period of more than 60 years. During this time, the adaptability, stress resistance, and production performance of the breed have been significantly improved. After large-scale demonstration and promotion, they have achieved good economic and social benefits.