Waterfowl Breeds at Risk

waterfowl by chris ashton The Greylag goose, foundation species for Europe’s native goose breeds Breeds at risk ...should they be preserved? nce upon a time there were no and upon the effect of the local environment. of the original landrace and the characteristic ‘breeds’ of waterfowl. Wild ducks selection was not based on any knowledge productivity of the landrace can be lost if the were harvested from traps in of genetics, but upon cultural preference and population is too small. the marshlands and Greylag tradition. thus white goose down for the duvet goose eggs were collected, or was preferred in northern Europe; yet a white the importance of native breeDs theo geese rounded up in their flightless period. gander and a grey goose, for ease of auto- Domesticated forms could, in theory, be re- close contact with the birds – especially the sexing, was also a general maxim in the west. created from the wild population. however, Greylag goslings – led to their domestication these geese and ducks of the land evolved some of our breeds have evolved over many and the development of regional types of to fit the local conditions, establishing the centuries and both time and even serendipity waterfowl. these eventually became known as concept of the ‘landrace’ in Europe. it is literally have also played their part – something that ‘breeds’. the bird ‘of the land’ i.e. typical of a certain cannot be guaranteed to happen again. district. it is the form/strain best adapted to the importance of these indigenous (native) Development from the lanDrace the local conditions of climate, management breeds was recognized by the Un’s Food in indonesia, the distinctive runner foraged in practices and food supply. a wide gene pool and agriculture organisation (FAO). Livestock the rice fields; in France, the rouen grew fat and inevitable cross-breeding maintained Breeds of China focusing only on mammals, on its diet of worms and grain. Development productivity where these breeding populations was originally published in chinese in 1980. it of the Embden and toulouse suited the better were extensive. noted that indigenous breeds are often low in feeding of the lowlands, whilst the shetland a ‘breed’ is further refinement from the productivity, but are well adapted to stresses goose pecked a living off the poorer land. in landrace. it is a group of domesticated birds in environmental conditions that exotic strains central Europe, white geese and curly-feathered where the individuals are similar to each other cannot cope with, such as local climate, geese were selected, and there also arose the in outward appearance and in their breeding food supply and diseases. Desirable traits in saddleback and auto-sexing types. these forms performance. When bred together, the progeny these native breeds are needed to maximise of geese were chosen from mutations noticed in should be similar to each other i.e. the parents productivity in new strains created from exotic the domesticated breeding flock. (and their offspring) should ‘breed true’. breeds, especially in harsh environments. the goose kept by the local people therefore selection within a landrace for the consistent this large number of different breeds depended upon the chosen characteristics, appearance of a breed narrows the gene pool (in relatively few species) has given us the October 2013 Poultry 15 Abacot Rangers: produced Pilgrim geese, first in Britain, developed in standardised in the USA, Germany as the Streicher. originated in Europe. opportunity to continue the process of i.e. they have a particular place of origin. Exhibition Aylesbury exploiting genetic variation at a faster pace there are guidelines on the definition of a than in the past. however, these breeds native breed based on the larger animals. and their valuable genetic material may well these include the following RBST (simplified be lost if we do not take specific measures points) for the UK: to preserve them now. they should be 1. the breed must comply with the FAO and preserved to save them from extinction, and EU definitions of a breed; be developed to utilize their potential to the 2. breed history documents the breed origin full. and development within the UK; subsequent reports from china (2003) 3. breed history documents its presence in and the USSR (1989) went on to define the UK for 40 years plus six generations; several breeds and breed groups in 4. not more than 20% of the genetic waterfowl. contributions come from animals born in 1990, FAO’s council recommended the outside the UK (other than those imported PHOTO: JONATHAN MORGAN preparation of a comprehensive programme for an approved conservation project) in for the sustainable management of anGr any generation for the last 40 years plus at the global level. this resulted in individual in its native breed poultry list, and it was now six generations (https://www.rbst.org.uk/ country reports which were the formative up to all poultry organisations to produce a poultry-information). documents in this process. the UK Country list of native breeds, from the UK standards, some of these native breeds came about Report on Farm Animal Genetic Resources which could merit special consideration for from improvement in breeding stock during the was published in 2002. by 2007, the first ever Defra’s BAR list. this was doubly important for agricultural revolution. changes in land use and FAO Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic waterfowl because of the near impossible task productivity, and redistribution of the human Resources, aimed at combating the erosion of of housing waterfowl in the event of a crisis: they population, altered both products and markets. animal genetic diversity, and at using animal simply cannot be confined, and excluded from commercialisation for the urban market refined genetic resources sustainably, was finally wild birds, as easily as chickens. the processes whereby a group of animals published. its aims were also to contribute to Meetings with Defra confirmed the criteria. was developed as a uniform, mass-produced, development goals such as the eradication BAR should: profitable product. that is well documented in of extreme poverty and hunger and to ensure 1. be a native domestic breed predominantly or the case of the aylesbury duck. environmental sustainability. significantly domiciled in the UK; today, these native breeds may no longer be Defra now acknowledges that the UK’s Farm 2. have less than 1000 pure bred females in used as commercial birds, nor be as genetically animal Genetic resources (FanGr) – its farm the UK; diverse as the original landrace. they may animal breeds, strains and varieties, and the 3. have bred true for a significant number of be rare because they have been neglected variability within them – are of great economic, generations (50 years); commercially. this is true of both the genuine social and cultural importance. additionally, we 4. be recognised by a governing body and aylesbury duck and the brecon buff goose. in have national and international obligations to accepted as a standardized breed. addition, some of our native breeds have only look after them. Defra initially included the auto-sexing breeds recently been recognised in the standards (West of England and Pilgrim) plus sebastopol, book. the West of England and shetland goose avian influenza Embden (UK standard), and brecon buff. are examples of native breeds which fell out of What really shot the avian native and rare Further discussions have added the Grey back, favour when they competed with the twentieth breeds issue into the public domain was buff back, exhibition toulouse and shetland century commercial white goose. the incidence of avian influenza in the UK, goose (standardised 2008). the initial list of Publicity of the plight, and the significance of, particularly 2006 - 2008. Defra’s policy to cull ducks was also recently expanded. breeds at risk, is currently causing a revival of all infected and even potentially infected flocks interest. Many of the BAR have been nurtured meant a rapid re-assessment of the UK stock to a Definition of native breeDs in small numbers in their local environment, and determine breeds at risk (BAR), in compliance Quite often it has been from the landrace that a also by breeders for the show scene. Without with the FAO anGr aims. breed has been developed and refined for the these conservation efforts many of these breeds the rare breeds survival trust had only standards book (e.g. the brecon buff). such would have disappeared entirely. Maybe it’s time previously included a few rare chicken breeds developments are known as native breeds – for some of them to make a comeback. 16 Poultry October 2013.

Load more