Implementation of genomic selection in the poultry industry

Abstract

Genomic selection using high-density SNP panels was first implemented in dairy cattle breeding programs. It provided benefits in terms of reduced generation intervals, improved accuracies of selecting young animals, and reductions in costs associated with the requirement of progeny testing bulls in traditional breeding programs (Hayes et al., 2009). Several distinct features of the poultry breeding industry differ markedly from dairy cattle breeding and influence the manner in which genomic selection can be used for genetic improvement in poultry breeding: · Traditional genetic improvement programs in poultry already have short generation intervals (multiple overlapping generations per year with selection every 6 wk in broilers, non-overlapping annual generations in layers). There is some scope for shortening the generation interval in layers but not as much as was the case for dairy cattle breeding where bull pathways could be reduced in length from greater than 6 yr to less than 3 yr (Schaeffer, 2006, Schefers and Weigel, 2012).