Effects of different brood seasons on laying performance of parental Nanhai Yellow Chicken

The effects of different brood seasons on laying performance，production performance of Nanhai Yellow Chicken parent generation breeders in three brood seasons（ spring，summer and autumn） were analyzed.The results showed that the laying rate of breeders brooding in autumn increased fastest，and reached the peak in the seventh week after first laying，then the laying rate decreased gradually. The breeders brooding in autumn exhibited the highest egg production，with 110.47 for each breeder，followed by summer（ 100.75） and spring （95.38）.During the laying period，the feed intake of breeders brooding in spring，summer and autumn，was 113.34 g/d，116.21 g/d and 111.89 g/d，respectively. Furthermore，feed consumption for each egg was the lowest in autumn brood（ 170.15 g） and the highest（ 199.63 g） in spring brood. In addition，the survival rates of stock brooding in spring，summer and autumn，were 94.46%，96.22% and 96.00%，respectively. Compared to the other two seasons，chickens brooding in autumn had the highest laying rate，the lowest feed consumption and the highest survival rate.