Features of selection and acquisition of a breeding herd of meat quails

The task of the research was to develop methods for assessing and selecting birds by live weight at the age of the breeding herd acquisition and the influence of this indicator on the yield and quality of hatching eggs. The work was carried out in the LLC "Gene Pool" of the Moscow region. The initial material was a group of quails with white plumage, obtained by crossing (direct and reverse) the Pharaoh and Texas white breeds. The breed was bred and named Radonezh (patent No. 9996).The results of the experiments showed that the best productivity was possessed by a bird with a live weight at a level close to the average value along the line. The rational live weight of maternal quails at the age of acquisition of the breeding herd (5-weeks) is within 250-310 g. The selection of quails by the number of eggs suitable for incubation, contributed to a faster achievement by the bird of an average egg weight of 12 g and a decrease in laying hens laying eggs for a long period with a weight of up to 12 g. On average, laying hens of the F3 maternal line reached a mass of 12 g at the age of 9.2 weeks. In F1, the coefficient of egg mass variability was 6.2%, in F3 - 3.4%, heritability - 0.48 and 0.27, respectively. Under the influence of breeding, egg production, yield and quality of incubated eggs were increased over three generations of poultry selection of the laid maternal line. The total effect of the performed studies provided an increase in the yield of young from laying hens by 9.1%. An increase in the complex indicator of the yield of quails from a laying hen was achieved, both by selection for an increase in egg production, fertility and hatchability of eggs, and by improving the conditions for keeping breeding birds.