Effects of Fast and Slow Feather Genes on Early Body Weight and

Feather Growth of Dahen Broiler

Mohan Qiu

, Shiliang Zhu

, Siyang Liu

, Han Peng

, Xia Xiong

, Jialei Chen

Zengrong Zhang

, Chunlin Yu

and Chaowu Yang

China Animal Breeding and Genetics Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Animal Science Academy, Chengdu,

China

xiongxia20120904@163.com, qiaoqiaowo110@163.com, zhangzengrong2004@163.com, yuchunlin1984@sina.com,

cwyang@foxmail.com

Are equal contributors,

Corresponding author

Keywords: Dahen Broiler, Chicken, Fast Feather, Slow Feather, Early Body Weight, Feather Growth.

Abstract: In order to explore the relationship between feather and early development of body weight in fast- and slow-

feathering groups of Dahen broiler, the body weight and feather growth rate (covert, primary and tail feather)

of 1-10 weeks old Dahen broilers were measured and analyzed. The results showed that there was no

significant difference in body weight between fast feathering and slow feathering broilers aged 1-10 weeks;

Before 4 weeks of age, the main wing feathers of fast feathered chickens were significantly longer than those

of slow feathered chickens (isometric slow feathering, inverted slow feathering, unexplained slow feathering)

(P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and the difference gradually decreased with the increase of age, but there was no

significant difference at the end of brooding; At the age of 10 weeks, the overlying wing feathers of the

inverted and equal length slow feathered chickens were significantly longer than those of the fast feathered

and unexplained slow feathered chickens (P < 0.05); Before 2 weeks of age, the main wing feather of fast

feathered chicken was significantly longer than that of slow feathered chicken, the main wing feather of

isometric slow feathered chicken was significantly longer than that of inverted slow feathered chicken and

unexplained slow feathered chicken (P < 0.05), and the main wing feather of inverted slow feathered chicken

was significantly longer than that of other three phenotypes (fast feathered, isometric slow feathered and

unexplained slow feathered chicken) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); The tail feathers of fast feathered chicken and

slow feathered chicken were significantly longer than that of slow feathered chicken at the same week of age.

There was no significant difference in the length of tail feathers among the three different phenotypes of slow

feathered chicken; The results showed that the growth of wing feather before 2 weeks old could be used as an

auxiliary method for fast and slow feather identification of Dahen broiler.

1 INTRODUCTION

Dahen broiler is a new high-quality broiler breed bred

by Sichuan Daheng Poultry Breeding Co., Ltd. and

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3079-541X

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0624-0123

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8175-5103

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1828-1782

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0448-9491

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9238-4608

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0926-6270

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5657-7886

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6537-268X

Sichuan Academy of Animal Husbandry Science, and

has passed the examination and approval of the

National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources

Committee. Dahen broiler, a new yellow feather

Qiu, M., Zhu, S., Liu, S., Peng, H., Xiong, X., Chen, J., Zhang, Z., Yu, C. and Yang, C.

Effects of Fast and Slow Feather Genes on Early Body Weight and Feather Growth of Dahen Broiler.

DOI: 10.5220/0011297800003443

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics (ICBEB 2022), pages 849-854

ISBN: 978-989-758-595-1

849

broiler breed independently bred by act in China, has

the characteristics of rough feeding resistance, strong

disease resistance, strong adaptability, high

production efficiency and good meat flavour (Peng

2019 and Jiang 2007). At present, Dahen broiler has

been bred for 10 generations in succession. Its genetic

structure is stable, the breeding progress of

production shape and reproductive performance is

obvious, and its survival rate and appearance

uniformity are excellent. It is an ideal model property

for genetic research (Li 2019 and Peng 2019). In

poultry production, chicken feathers are a very

important economic trait, which can be divided into

fast feathers and slow feathers, also known as early

feathers and late feathers, mainly referring to the

early, late and fast growth of wing feathers and tail

feathers, which can be seen within 24% hours after

chicks emerge from their shells. Chicken's fast and

slow feathers belong to sex-linked genetic traits. The

male chicks obtained by matching fast-feathered

cocks with slow-feathered hens are slow feathers,

while the female chicks are fast feathers. At present,

it is used to separate the male and female of newborn

chicks, replacing the anal sex identification

technology widely used in production. It is simple,

fast and accurate, saves labor resources and labor

costs, and avoids adverse reaction of anal idenstarted

to lay 2-7 days earlier than slow-feathered chickens

(Xie 2002). Durmus et al. found that the egg

production of fasttification to chickens, spreading

diseases and crushing chickens. It is a modern

chicken production (Song 2003).

It has been found that feather speed has certain

influence on growth and development, body weight,

laying performance, disease resistance, production

performance and reproductive performance of

chickens (Cheng 1987 and Xing 2020). Zhong Chen

et al. found that the weight of fast and slow feathered

chickens was significantly different among

individuals (Zhong 2010). Rumin Jia et al. found that

the shin of recessive white slow feather cock is longer

than that of fast feather cock (Jia 2009). Jinfang Xie

found that Chongren Ma chicken fast-feathered

chickens -feathered hens was greater than that of

slow-feathered hens (Xie 2002). Jianhua Ouyang et

al. found that the laying weight of slow-feathered

Wanzai Kangle Yellow Chicken was significantly

greater than that of fast-feathered chickens (Ouyang

2002). In addition, some studies have found that there

are some differences in viability and disease

resistance between fast-feathered chickens and slow-

feathered chickens. Lowe et al. found that the

mortality of offspring of fast-feathered hens was

higher than that of offspring of slow-feathered hens

(Lowe 1981). Dong Li et al. found that the viability

of Locke fast-feathered chickens was stronger than

that of Biloch slow-feathered chickens (Li 1991), and

Harris et al. also observed similar results (Harris

1984).

In order to explore the relationship between

feather speed and weight of Dahen broiler, the length

and weight of main wing feather, covering main wing

feather and tail feather of Dahen broiler at different

growth days were measured and analyzed, aim to

provide basis for breeding fast and slow feather

strains of Dahen broiler.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Experimental Animals

We selected 240 healthy 1-day-old Dahen broilers,

with half male and half female (30 males and 30

females of each genotype, such as fast feather, equal

length slow feather, inverted long slow feather and

unexposed slow feather), and provided by Sichuan

Daheng Poultry Breeding Co., Ltd.. The experiment

was conducted in Sichuan Daheng Poultry Breeding

Co., Ltd. from March to June, 2021. Cage feeding,

free feeding and drinking water, illumination and

immunization were all conducted according to

routine feeding management procedures..

2.2 Feather Length and Weight

Measurement Method

The feather length and weight of each test chicken

group were measured every 1 week until the 10th

week. The first main wing feather, the fourth main

wing feather and the longest tail feather (10 in each

group) of the left wing of chickens were uniformly

measured with vernier caliper. Weigh the weight of

chickens in each test group with an electronic scale,

30 chickens in each group, and take the average value

3 MAIN WING FEATHER

3.1 Growth and Development of Main

Wing Feather

It can be seen from Figure 1 that the main wing

feather length of Dahen broilers gradually increases

before 6 weeks of age, and increases slowly after 6

weeks of age. The main wing feather length of fast-

feathering chickens is significantly longer than that of

ICBEB 2022 - The International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics

850

three slow-feathering chickens (equal-length,

inverted-length and non-emergence) at the age of 1-3

weeks (P<0.05), and that of equal-length slow-

feathering chickens is significantly longer than that of

non-emergence and inverted-length slow-feathering

chickens (P< 0.05). This difference gradually

decreases with the increase of age, but the difference

at the end of brooding is not significant. At the age of

9-10 weeks, the length of main wing feather of

inverted long slow-feathered chicken was

significantly longer than that of other three feather

types (P<0.05).

Figure 1: This caption has one line so it is centered.

3.2 Growth and Development of Cover

Main Wing Feather

It can be seen from fig. 2 that the cover main wing

feathers of Dahen broilers gradually grow before 6

weeks of age, and the length of the cover main wing

feathers does not increase after 6 weeks of age. At the

age of 1-3 weeks, the length of the cover main wing

feather of fast-feathering chickens was significantly

longer than that of three slow-feathering chickens (P

< 0.01). With the increase of age, there was no

significant difference in the length of cover main

wing feather between fast and slow feathering

chickens.

Figure 2: Feather length of cover main wings of chickens

with different feather types.

3.3 Tail Feather Growth and

Development

It can be seen from Figure 3 that fast-feathering

chickens have grown tail feathers at the age of 1

week, while slow-feathering chickens only grow tail

feathers at the age of 2 weeks. At the same age, the

tail feather length of fast-feathering chickens is

significantly longer than that of slow-feathering

chickens (P<0.05), and this trend is more significant

before 4 weeks of age. With the increase of age, this

difference gradually decreases.

Figure 3: Tail feather length of different feather types.

3.4 Weight Development

It can be seen from fig. 4 that the weight of Dahen

broilers gradually increases with the increase of the

age of 1-10 weeks; Moreover, there is no significant

difference in weight between different feather

chickens, and this trend is similar between male and

female hens.

Figure 4: Weight of chickens with different feather types.

4 DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Growth Differences of Main Wing

Feather, Covered Main Wing

Feather and Tail Feather of Dahen

Quality Broilers

Chicken feather growth is controlled by both growth

environment and genes. On the one hand, external

factors such as nutrition, growth environment, stress

response and drug property have great influence on

the growth and development of chicken feathers. On

Effects of Fast and Slow Feather Genes on Early Body Weight and Feather Growth of Dahen Broiler

851

the other hand, fast and slow feather genes regulate

feather growth and play a decisive role (Jia 2009).

Fast and slow feather genes are a pair of companion

genes that control feather growth speed, which are

located on Z chromosome and control the growth and

development of main wing feather, main wing

feather, tail feather and other parts of chicken feathers

(Song 2003 and Zhong 2010). According to the

relative length of main wing feather and covered

main wing feather, chickens can be divided into four

different feather types: fast feather, slow feather

without emergence, slow feather with equal length

and slow feather without emergence (Cheng 1987). In

production, combining the laws between fast and

slow feather genes and the corresponding phenotypic

traits, a self-distinguishing male and female mating

line was established, which improved the efficiency

and benefit of poultry breeding. During the growth

and development of chickens of different feather

types, the growth status and feather speed of their

feathers are different, which usually decreases with

the increase of chicken age (Rong 2010). In this

experiment, the main wing feathers and the main

wing feathers of Dahen broilers increased with age,

which collectively showed that their feathers grew

faster in the early growth stage and gradually

decreased in the middle and late growth stages, which

was consistent with the research results of Xiaohui

Liu and others on Bashang long-tailed chickens. At

1-3 weeks of age, the main wing feathers and the

main wing feathers of fast-feathering chickens of

Dahen broilers were significantly longer than those of

slow-feathering chickens, and the differences

gradually decreased with the increase of age. There

are many similar research results. The research

results of Chenglin Zhong et al. show that the main

wing feather length of fast-feathered yellow-

feathered chickens in Sichuan mountainous area is

significantly longer than that of slow-feathered

chickens before 4 weeks of age (Zhong 2018). The

research of Xiaohui Liu et al. shows that the main

wing feather and covering wing feather of fast-

feathered Bashang long-tailed chickens are

significantly longer than that of slow-feathered

chickens before 2 weeks of age, and the differences

are gradually reduced with the increase of age (Liu

2014). The results of this experiment showed that the

growth and development of tail feathers of Dahen

broilers also followed a certain rule. Fast-feathered

chickens had grown tail feathers at the age of 1 week,

while slow-feathered chickens began to grow tail

feathers at the age of 2 weeks. The tail feathers of

fast-feathered chickens were significantly longer than

those of slow-feathered chickens at the same age,

which was similar to the research results of Ting

Rong et al. and Xiaohui Liu et al. (Rong 2010 and Liu

2014). Previous studies have shown that the growth

and development of chicken tail feather is late, and

the growth and development of chicken tail feather is

very obvious in about 2 weeks, with a length of about

3 cm. There is a difference in tail feather development

between fast feather and slow feather, which

undoubtedly provides the possibility for feather type

identification. It also shows that the length of tail

feather can also be a new reference and basis for act

to distinguish male from female, and the

identification time is best controlled at 1-4 weeks old.

4.2 Relationship between Fast and

Slow Feather Speed and Body

Weight of Dahen Broilers

The fast and slow feather genes can not only control

the growth and development of chicken feathers, but

also have a certain influence on the early growth

speed and weight of chicken. Chenglin Zhong et al.

found that the weight of slow-feathered chickens in

yellow feather system of Sichuan mountainous black-

bone chickens was significantly larger than that of

fast-feathered chickens (Zhong 2018). Lechao Zhang

et al. found that the slow feather line of Taihang

chicken grew faster than the fast feather line (Zhang

2017). The research of Ning et al. also verified this

point, that is, the weight of slow-feathering white-

shelled hens in both sexual maturity and adult weight

was significantly higher than that of fast-feathering

hens (Ning 2005). However, there are some studies

that show the opposite. Kumar et al. studied Desi,

Bailaihang and Luodao Red Chicken (RIR), which

showed that fast-feathering chickens were all heavier

than slow-feathering chickens (Kumar 1975).In

addition, Guilong Yan et al. made use of Roman

commodity to replace laying hens, Haixia Han et

al.made use of Laiwu Black Chicken, Zuanshou Liu

et al.made use of Xingza 288 Chicken Breed,

Xiangpin Qiu et al.made use of dual-purpose C-line

Chicken Breed, and Zhong Chen et al.made use of

Huangshi local chicken Breed, all of which showed

that fast-feathered chickens were heavier than slow-

feathered chickens(Han 2009, Liu 1983, Cheng 1987

and Chen 2010). The results of this study showed that

the weight of Dahen broilers increased with age, but

there was no significant difference in weight between

fast and slow breeds, which was consistent with the

research results of Hayson RIR chickens, Yan Xiong

on Lingnan yellow chickens, and Xiaohui Liu on

Bashang long-tailed chickens (Hays 1932, Xiong

1995 and Liu 2014). This shows that the feather speed

ICBEB 2022 - The International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics

852

of different poultry groups has different effects on

weight development and cannot be generalized. The

fast and slow feather genes have different effects on

the growth of chickens or young poultry in different

experiments, which may be mainly related to

varieties, strains, genders, experimental conditions,

feeding methods, heat preservation measures and

other factors.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this experiment, the feeding density of different

groups of chickens was not adjusted in time in the

later period, which may have certain influence on the

test results, but on the whole, there was no significant

difference in weight development between fast and

slow feather strains of Dahen broilers. The

appearance time and relative length of tail feather can

effectively judge fast and slow feather individuals of

Dahen broilers, which is helpful to improve the

accuracy of phenotypic selection when establishing

fast and slow feather pure lines of Dahen broilers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was funded by Sichuan Province Basic

Scientific Research Project (SASA202101); Sichuan

province key research and development plan

(2019YFN0009, 20ZDYF0012, 2021YFYZ0031).

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