In situ and ex situ assessment of a native Hungarian chicken breed for its potential conservation and adaptation in the subtropics

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Animal Production Science
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In situ and ex situ assessment of a native Hungarian chicken
breed for its potential conservation and adaptation
in the subtropics
K. D. T. Dong Xuan A,B, T. N. Lan Phuong A,B,D, P. D. Tien C, P. T. M. Thu C, N. Q. Khiem C,
D. T. Nhung C, NT Muoi C, NT K. Oanh C, P. T. K. Thanh C and I. T. Szalay A,B
A

Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene Conservation (HaGK), H-2100 Godollo, Hungary.
Association of Hungarian Small Animal Breeders for Gene Conservation (MGE), H-2100 Godollo, Hungary.
C
Thuy Phuong Poultry Research Centre (POREC), Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam.
D
Corresponding author. Email:
B

Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate the adaptation and possible ex situ conservation in a subtropical
region of the Partridge coloured Hungarian (PH), a native Hungarian chicken breed, by monitoring and comparing the
performance of two PH flocks reared in parallel in Hungary (HU) and Vietnam (VN). The high survival rate (95.0–96.5%),
overall productivity and reproductive ability of the VN flock confirmed the adaptation potential of PH chickens to
subtropical climates. A relatively good bodyweight (1412 Ỉ 13.8 g) and slaughter yield (75.6 Æ 0.02% eviscerated
carcass and 28.2 Æ 0.12% deboned thigh meat) in male VN birds at 12 weeks of age was obtained. Moreover, it was found
that benefits such as the number of eggs (112 eggs/layer in 7 months) and egg mass (6.1 kg/layer) alongside considerably
higher fertility (85.9 Ỉ 2.9%) and hatchability (82.0 Ỉ 3.2%) of VN layers could outweigh their reduced egg size. As
a result, the study confirms that the adaptation and maintenance of populations in subtropical regions is a promising
agro-ecological way to protect native Hungarian chicken breeds and improve their involvement in production.
Additional keywords: animal production, subtropical, tropical poultry production.

Received 2 November 2015, accepted 19 February 2016, published online 3 June 2016

Introduction
In Hungary, seven native chicken breeds, including the
Partridge coloured Hungarian chicken (PH), are officially
registered by the Hungarian breeding authority and conserved
under the Association of Hungarian Small Animal Breeders for
Gene Conservation (MGE). The majority of these stocks are
kept by Hungarian academic institutions as in vivo gene banks
(Spalona et al. 2007; Szalay et al. 2009). In spite of a long
breeding history, the registered gene bank stocks of PH were
established not long ago, succeeding an effective gene rescue
program of the Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene
Conservation (HaGK) (Szalay 2002, 2015). PH, just like all
other local Hungarian chickens, was reported to have not only
excellent meat quality regardless of hot or cold weather
temperatures (Baldy 1954), but also relatively good eggproducing capability in the continental climate (Lan Phuong
et al. 2014). However, it is becoming the most popular local
chicken among rural farmers due to its colourful and fine
appearance.
Following a period of increased use of chicken breeds
selected for high performance and mass production, which
has resulted in a decline in the breeding of old Hungarian
chickens in the Carpathian Basin (Szalay et al. 1992, 1995), the
Journal compilation Ó CSIRO 2016

trend is now changing and some old local breeds are
regaining recognition in special conservation programs
elaborated for the Hungarian countryside (Szalay et al. 2009;
Szalay 2015). At the same time, the adaptation and maintenance

of live populations of rare farm animal breeds outside of their
native environment has been suggested as a possible ex situ
conservation method (FAO 1992; Dong Xuan et al. 2008), and
has been effectively implemented by various studies in
indigenous poultry conservation (Tien et al. 2010; Zanetti et al.
2010; Rusfidra et al. 2015). Considering conservation principles
and practices, MGE and KATKI (the predecessor of HaGK)
introduced local Hungarian landrace guinea fowl and turkey
breeds into both subtropical and tropical regions of Vietnam for
experimental purposes between 2002 and 2007, based on
transnational scientific and technological collaborative projects
with the Vietnamese Thuy Phuong Poultry Research Centre
(POREC). As expected, these breeds have successfully adapted
and reproduced efficiently (Dong Xuan et al. 2008, 2015),
similar to other exotic chicken breeds such as Luong Phuong
chickens of Chinese origin (Thuan 2003; Doan and Thanh
2011) and Fayoumi chickens originating from Egypt (Nhan
et al. 2010; Tuyen et al. 2010). Previous adaptation studies
suggest that the introduction of PH chickens into Vietnam can
www.publish.csiro.au/journals/an


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Animal Production Science

K. D. T. Dong Xuan et al.

only be favourable if cautious consideration of local
conservation approaches (Dong Xuan and Szalay 2003; Dong

Xuan et al. 2006) and demands for sustainable agriculture
(Szalay and Dong Xuan 2007) are considered. Therefore, the
aim of this study was to investigate the adaptability of PH
chickens (strictly separated from other local breeds) in a
subtropical region (North Vietnam), by monitoring and
comparing the performance of two PH flocks of the same origin
in parallel in Hungary and Vietnam.

to feed and clean water. Mortality, individual bodyweight of
birds and feed intake of each pen were measured monthly (at 4, 8
and 12 weeks of age). At the end of the 12th week, experimental
birds were sexed based on their appearance to define the sex ratio.
Although feed conversion ratio (FCR, kg feed/kg bodyweight
gain) is calculated according to the number of live birds
recorded monthly in each pen, corrected feed conversion ratio
(cFCR, kg feed/kg bodyweight gain) is a predicted value when the
number of males and females in a pen is equal.
FCR

Materials and methods

¼

In this study, 500 chicks that were offspring of HaGK in vivo
gene bank stock were hatched in Hungary, whereas another 500
chicks of the same origin were hatched from eggs directly
imported by POREC, Vietnam. The two experimental flocks
were reared in parallel, one at the poultry farm of HaGK,
Hungary (HU) and the other one at POREC, Vietnam (VN).
Differences in some basic climatic parameters between Hungary

(Budapest station) and Vietnam (Hanoi station) are shown in
Table 1. Growth was monitored from May (hatching day) to
July 2010 and egg production from November 2010 to May
2011. The same husbandry technology described by MGE was
applied in both locations (MGE 2009). During the meat
production trial, birds were allocated to 20 pens (10 pens at
POREC and 10 pens at HaGK) with 50 birds/pen. Initially, birds
were kept in closed cages (5 birds/m2, concrete floor with
5–6-cm-deep bedding made from shavings and 25 cm of perch
space per bird). In the first 3 weeks of rearing, birds were fed
with commercial mixed feed (starter type). Later, feedstuffs
were changed to grains that were locally available and
additional protein requirement was supplemented by soybean
meal and processed infertile, broken or substandard eggs from
the hatchery. Although the types of feed and premix used for the
VN and HU flocks were not identical, it was ensured that feed
diet, calculated on the basis of chemical feed composition
(Table 2), was the same at both locations. From 4 weeks of
age, birds were released in a running area of 4 m2/bird during
the day, which was closed at night. Lighting and prophylactic
programs are described in Table 3. All birds had free access

Feed intake per pen ðkgÞ
Number of live birds · Average bodyweight gain kgị
cFCRat sex ratio of 1 ẳ

FCR
Recorded sex ratio

Following sexing, 10 males from each pen with average

bodyweight were slaughtered to investigate the weights of
eviscerated carcass, deboned breast meat and thigh meat, the
percentages of which were calculated as below:
Percentage of eviscerated carcass
Weight of eviscerated carcass gị
;
ẳ
Liveweight gị
Percentage of deboned breast meat
Weight of deboned breast gị
;
ẳ
Weight of eviscerated carcass gị
Percentage of deboned thigh meat
Weight of deboned thigh gị
:
ẳ
Weight of eviscerated carcass gị
At 20 weeks of age, 200 females and 20 males of both the
HU and VN flocks were moved to four laying pens (50 females
and 5 males per pen). The total number of intact eggs produced
daily was recorded throughout the 1st laying period. To avoid
disturbance, the bodyweight and feed intake of layers were not
monitored. Eggs were collected twice a day. Egg production

Table 1. Difference in climatic parameters between North Vietnam (VN; recorded at Hanoi station,
according to the General Statistic Office of Vietnam) and Hungary (HU; recorded at Budapest station,
according to Orszagos Meteorologiai Szolgalat of Hungary)
Trials

Months

Growing

May
June
July

Egg laying November
December
January
February
March
April
May

Temperature
(C)
VN
HU

Humidity
(%)
VN HU

Sunshine duration
(h)
VN
HU

Rainfall
(mm)
VN HU

27
29
30

16
19
21

76
80
77

61
61
59

138
127
151

234
250
271

149
395

254

62
63
45

25
17
18
21
22
23
29

5
2
0
2
6
12
17

76
67
81
80
78
85
81

78
80
79
74
66
59
61

104
79
4
38
15
57
138

67
48
62
93
137
177
234

31
51
80
8
5
55

149

53
43
37
29
30
42
62


Adaptability of Hungarian chickens in subtropics

Animal Production Science

C

Table 2. Average chemical feed composition used for adaption study of Partridge coloured Hungarian chicken
calculated at the Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene Conservation in Hungary (HU) and at Thuy Phuong
Poultry Research Centre in sub-tropic climatic zone of North Vietnam (VN)
Composition
Energy
Dry matter
Crude protein
Fat
Fibre
Lysine
Methionine
Methionine + Cysteine
Threonine

Tryptophan
Arginine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Valine
Calcium
Phosphorus
Sodium
Vitamin A
Vitamin D3
Vitamin E

Unit

1–3 weeks
of age

4–19 weeks
of age

20–22 weeks
of age

>22 weeks
of age

MJ/kg
%
%
%

%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
IU/kg
IU/kg
mg/kg

12.2
87.0
21.6
4.0
3.5
1.0
0.42
0.70
0.82
0.24
0.11
0.08
0.16

0.11
0.92
0.65
0.12
12 000
4000
35.0

11.7
86.9
20.5
0.11
4.0
1.1
0.40
0.66
0.79
0.24
0.09
0.06
0.12
0.08
1.0
0.65
0.12
12 000
4000
35.0

11.1

86.9
16.9
3.3
4.1
0.76
0.33
0.57
0.62
0.19
0.15
0.10
0.21
0.14
2.7
0.56
0.13
12 000
4000
35.0

10.8
87.2
16.7
3.7
4.2
0.75
0.32
0.56
0.61
0.18

0.10
0.07
0.15
0.10
3.92
0.65
0.13
12 000
4000
35.0

Table 3. Lighting and prophylactic programs used for adaption study
of Partridge coloured Hungarian chicken reared in parallel at the
Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene Conservation in Hungary
(HU) and at Thuy Phuong Poultry Research Centre in sub-tropical
climatic zone of North Vietnam (VN)
Age

Lighting
duration
(h)

Irradiance
(W/m2)

1 day old

24

3

1 week old
2 weeks old

23
21

3
2

3 weeks old

19

2

4 weeks old
5 weeks old
6 weeks old
7 weeks old
8 weeks old

17
15
14
13
12

1
1

1
1
1

9 weeks old

11

1

10 weeks old
11 weeks old
12 weeks old

10
9
8

1
1
1

18 weeks old

8

1

Prophylactic measures

percentage on a daily basis (EP) was calculated using the
following formula:
EP ¼

To measure egg weight, egg yolk, egg white and egg shell
weight, as well as egg length and egg width, 30 randomly
selected eggs produced by 36-week-old layers were used. Egg
index was calculated as follows:

Vaccination against Marek
disease
1st vaccination against
Gumboro disease
1st vaccination against
Newcastle disease and
infectious bronchitis
–
–
–
–
2nd vaccination against
Newcastle disease and
infectious bronchitis
2nd vaccination against
Gumboro disease
–
–
Vaccination against infectious
avian encephalomyelitis
Vaccination against Newcastle

disease, bronchitis and
Gumboro-Small pox

Number of eggs produced on a daily basis
· 100:
Number of birds available in the flock

Egg index ¼

Egg length
:
Egg width

The same incubating technology was used in both study
stations. Fertile eggs and embryonic deaths were identified by
egg candling on the 7th day of incubation. Fertility as the
percentage of fertile eggs, hatchability as the percentage of
hatched eggs, number of substandard hatchlings and standard
hatchlings were recorded. The research was approved by the
local ethics committees of HaGK and POREC.
Data were subjected to Levene’s test to examine the
homogeneity of variance. If variances were equal across
groups (significant values in Levene’s test are higher than
0.05), a t-test was applied to determine the significance of the
difference of two datasets. Otherwise, Welch’s test (unequal
variances t-test) was used. All the tests were operated by SPSS
software (IBM CORP 2011).
Results
The survival rate of birds was relatively high, both at 12 weeks
of age (92.0% for HU and 96.2% for VN), and during the laying

period (between 24 and 54 weeks of age, 93.5% for HU and


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Animal Production Science

K. D. T. Dong Xuan et al.

Table 4. Summary of result on survival rate, meat production at the age of 12 weeks, egg production and egg quality of Partridge
coloured Hungarian chicken reared in parallel at the Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene Conservation in Hungary (HU) and
at Thuy Phuong Poultry Research Centre for adaptation study in subtropical climatic zone of North Vietnam (VN)
*, P < 0.05. **, P < 0.01. n.s., not significant
Parameters

HU mean ± s.e.

VN mean ± s.e.

Significance

Survival rate
at 12 weeks of age (%)
between 24 and 54 weeks of age (%)

96.2 ± 0.76
93.5 ± 1.7

95.0 ± 0.80
96.5 ± 1.3

t-test, n.s.
t-test, n.s.

Bodyweight
of male birds at 12 weeks of age (g)
of female birds at 12 weeks of age (g)

1429 ± 12.2
1198 ± 12.7

1412 ± 4.4
1093 ± 2.3

t-test, n.s.
t-test, **

Feed conversion ratio at 12 weeks of age (kg feed/kg bodyweight gain)
Eviscerated carcass percent at 12 weeks of age (%)
Deboned breast meat per cent of male birds at 12 weeks of age (%)
Deboned thigh meat percent of female birds at 12 weeks of age (%)

3.6 ± 0.01
75.8 ± 0.08
17.0 ± 0.01
27.9 ± 0.15

3.4 ± 0.01
75.6 ± 0.06
16.7 ± 0.12

28.2 ± 0.04

t-test, **
t-test, n.s.
Welch test, *
Welch test, n.s.

24
29–30
44

24
29–30
34

–
–
–

83.3 ± 0.16
58.3 ± 1.4
4.9 ± 0.11
16.4 ± 0.74
36.0 ± 0.73
5.9 ± 0.22
5.8 ± 0.10
4.3 ± 0.03
1.3 ± 0.02

112 ± 0.05

54.9 ± 0.63
6.1 ± 0.07
16.2 ± 0.26
30.3 ± 0.14
6.8 ± 0.31
4.8 ± 0.06
4.2 ± 0.03
1.1 ± 0.01

t-test, **
t-test, n.s.
t-test, **
Welch test, n.s.
Welch test, **
t-test, n.s.
t-test, **
t-test, n.s.
t-test, **

Weeks of age when
1st egg was laid
egg production reached 30%
egg production reached 50%
Number of produced eggs/layer/7 months
Egg weight (g)
Egg mass/layer/7 months (kg)
Egg yolk weight (g)
Egg white weight (g)
Egg shell weight (g)
Egg length (cm)

Egg height (cm)
Egg index

100
90
VN
HU

80
70
60

EP%

96.6 for VN). No significant difference in survival rate was
obtained. The results of growth performance revealed that
difference in bodyweight between the HU and VN flocks was
negligible in the first 2 months of rearing (4 and 8 weeks of age).
However, at the age of 12 weeks (recommended earliest age for
slaughtering in Hungary), whereas male birds of both the HU
and VN flocks had comparable bodyweight, HU females were
significantly heavier than VN females. Furthermore, compared
with the VN flock, the HU flock had a significantly higher
FCR. Regarding slaughter results, place of rearing had little
effect on the percentages of eviscerated carcass and deboned
thigh meat. However, it led to significant differences in the
percentage of deboned breast meat (Table 4). Regarding egg
production, eggs produced by HU layers were of greater weight
compared with eggs produced by VN layers. However, VN layers
laid 28 more eggs, thus, their calculated egg mass per hen was

markedly superior (Table 4). The percentage of egg white and
egg shell was significantly different between the two flocks
(HU: 61.8 Ỉ 0.68%, VN: 55.3 Ỉ 0.61%, t-test, P < 0.01 for
egg white and HU: 10.3 Ỉ 0.39%, VN: 12.3 Ỉ 0.60%, t-test,
P < 0.05 for eggshell). However, no significant difference was
found when comparing the percentage of egg yolk between the
two flocks (HU: 28.1 Ỉ 0.91%, VN: 29.6 Ỉ 0.31%). Furthermore,
variation in the size of eggs among the two flocks was
noticeable (Table 4). Results of estimated egg index suggested
that the eggs of HU hens were rounder than those of VN hens.
Figure 1 demonstrates the egg-producing patterns of the
two flocks. Their EP was comparable in the first 2 months of

50
40
30
20
10
0
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Months of egg production
Fig. 1. Egg-producing patterns (EP%) of the first egg laying period, started
in November, of Partridge coloured Hungarian chicken reared parallel at
the Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene Conservation in Hungary (HU)
and at Thuy Phuong Poultry Research Centre for adaptation study in
subtropical climatic zone of North Vietnam (VN).

laying. In the 3rd month, differences became significantly
apparent (HU: 44.8 Ỉ 3.6% and VN: 53.5 Æ 9.9%, Welch
test, P < 0.01). From that point onwards, the EP of HU hens
gradually increased and reached the highest point in the
7th month (58.7 Ỉ 2.5%). In contrast, the EP of VN hens


Adaptability of Hungarian chickens in subtropics

peaked in the 4th month (69.3 Ỉ 4.1%) and was persistently
greater than 50% until the 7th month. Fertility, hatchability and
the percentage of standard hatchlings of eggs produced by the
two flocks were relatively commensurate (HU: 96.7 Æ 0.50%,
VN: 96.0 Æ 0.99%, for fertility; HU: 84.6 Æ 5.2%, VN:
85.9 Ỉ 2.9%, for hatchability and HU: 80.2 Ỉ 5.4%, VN: 81.9
Ỉ 3.2%, for substandard hatchlings). Nonetheless, it was noted
that HU eggs showed less cases of embryonic disorders than VN
ones (8.4 Ỉ 1.3% vs 10.1 Ỉ 2.6%, t-test, P < 0.05).
Discussion
With the same husbandry employed at both locations, the high

survival rate, overall productivity and reproductive ability of
the VN flock confirmed the adaptative potential of PH chickens
to subtropical climates. The comparable bodyweight and
slaughtering yield (eviscerated carcass and deboned thigh) of
male birds makes the involvement of PH chickens in subtropical
poultry production promising. The advantages of increased
number of eggs and total egg mass produced per layer, with
considerably high fertility and hatchability, outweigh the
drawback of reduced egg size. The present study is in
accordance with former results found for guinea fowl and
turkeys taken to Vietnam as old Hungarian poultry breeds for
adaptation studies (Dong Xuan et al. 2008; Tien et al. 2010;
Dong Xuan et al. 2015). Noticeably, in comparison with the
HU flock, the higher egg production of the VN flock tended to
associate with smaller, lighter and relatively longer eggs. This
variation may be explained by climatic factors, as identified
when collating sunlight duration data and egg production
results. For instance, the longer the sunlight duration, the higher
the number of eggs produced by HU layers. Furthermore, in the
case of the VN flock, the shortest sunlight duration was recorded
in the 3rd month of egg production (January 2011). This stimulus
might have led to a sudden drop in VN egg production in the
following month (4th month of egg production, February 2011).
Additionally, the heavier egg shells produced by the VN flock
may also result from a positive reaction to the different climate.
Heavier eggshell indicates better protection again deleterious
environmental factors. Although this type of study was
described by Marshall (2014) as a neglected area of research, it
emphasises the possibility of an agro-ecological way (Archimède
et al. 2014) to integrate poultry breeds that are native in the

Carpathian Basin in the subtropics. It involves the ex situ
protection and utilisation of an old, exotic chicken breed with
special respect to conservation and sustainability (Szalay et al.
2009). Considering that breeds well adapted to higher
temperatures and lower quality diets may become more widely
used (Hoffmann 2010), the study may provide additional data
for the climate change mitigation strategies of both Hungary and
Vietnam. Further studies of egg and meat quality, as well as the
crossing of PH chickens with Vietnamese indigenous breeds
for sustainable, traditional production purposes, as described
by Dong Xuan et al. (2006) and Lan Phuong et al. (2015), are
recommended to strengthen the breeding and conservation of
the PH breed.

Animal Production Science

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