Melhoramento genético de frangos de corte

Abstract

Brazilian poultry industry has been expanding every year, due to technological advances in genetics, nutrition and health. In broiler chicken breeding several surveys are conducted to identify progeny with superior characteristics over other, this way selecting birds that shows better performance. This intense selection and genetic improvement work made in recent years has enabled a wide advancement of poultry industry. The selection is the most used breeding strategy, which aims to gain in a particular genetic trait or a set of characteristics of interest. In general, all companies producing commercial breeding use the principle of hybridization also known as heterosis. It is of extreme importance to study the characteristics of genetic performance and their relationship to favor the establishment of more accurate and appropriate strategies used in breeding programs. Given the above, the aim was to relate briefly the history and prospects of genetic improvement in Brazil, the strategies used in the breeding of broilers, the main lines and the inheritance of the main characteristics in broiler husbandry.