Factors affecting chicken bone strength

Abstract

Purpose: to study the accumulated data on the genetic determinism of the Kostyak fortress and discuss the possibility of their use to improve poultry farming.In both meat-type and egg-type poultry, bone strength is an important characteristic of animal welfare, on which largely depends the economic efficiency. The lack of strength is expressed by bone fragility, deformations or fractures occurring both at certain technologies of animal housing and at processing of poultry products, which is accompanied by economic losses. The quality and strength of bone tissue is formed, in addition to housing conditions, by a complex set of interactions of structural, physiological, nutritional and architectural components. The study of poultry bone strength is also complicated by reproduction peculiarities. Egg laying determines some features of osteogenesis, including medullary bone formation, which deposit calcium for eggshell formation. To date, the actual assessment of bone strength occurs postmortem, by measuring bone mineral density and breaking strength. Both methods do not allow using the evaluated animals in breeding to improve bone strength, therefore the study of genetic determinants of this trait is a relevant research task. The use of modern information analysis based on DNA technologies is a necessary step for identification of candidate genes controlling bone strength, because of their ability to increase selection efficiency in poultry. This review discusses the available results of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for bone strength in birds, as well as existing data on the relationship of bone strength with traits such as egg production and age at first lay.