Breeds & strains
Which bird to place, and what it will actually do. Figures come from published trials and breeder documentation — and anything from a single study says so, because trial results move with diet, climate and housing.
Broiler strains
Commercial meat birds. Almost all of Pakistan’s chicken comes from four strains.
Ross 308
راس ۳۰۸
AVIAGEN · ~15% OF MARKET
The global benchmark strain, selected hard for feed efficiency — though in Pakistan it sits third by volume behind Cobb and Hubbard.
Details →Cobb 500
TOP BREEDکاب ۵۰۰
COBB-VANTRESS · ~50% OF MARKET
The dominant broiler strain in Pakistan — roughly half of all national production. Heavy, meaty, and what most hatcheries and feed programmes are built around.
Details →Arbor Acres
آربر ایکڑز
AVIAGEN · ~10% OF MARKET
The smallest of the four commercial strains by volume, valued for uniformity — birds finish closer to the same weight, which matters when a buyer rejects outliers.
Details →Hubbard
TOP BREEDہبرڈ
HUBBARD (GROUPE GRIMAUD) · ~25% OF MARKET
The second most placed strain in Pakistan and the former market leader. Lines selected for robustness and liveability rather than peak growth.
Details →Layer strains
Commercial egg birds, mostly brown-egg hybrids on 72-week cycles.
Lohmann Brown
TOP BREEDلوہمان براؤن
LOHMANN BREEDERS
The most widely used layer in Pakistan. Brown eggs, long productive life, and a well-documented 72-week cycle.
Details →Hy-Line Brown
ہائی لائن براؤن
HY-LINE INTERNATIONAL
The main alternative to Lohmann for brown eggs, with a strong record on persistence — holding production later into the cycle.
Details →Hy-Line W-36
ہائی لائن ڈبلیو ۳۶
HY-LINE INTERNATIONAL
A white-egg layer known for feed efficiency. Smaller body size means less feed spent on maintaining the hen rather than making eggs.
Details →ISA Brown
آئی ایس اے براؤن
HENDRIX GENETICS
A long-established brown-egg hybrid, common worldwide and present in Pakistan alongside Lohmann and Hy-Line.
Details →Novogen Brown
نووجن براؤن
NOVOGEN
A newer brown-egg hybrid marketed on very high cumulative egg numbers over an extended cycle.
Details →Local & desi breeds
Backyard and semi-commercial birds. Small flocks produce 23.5% of Pakistan’s eggs.
Aseel
TOP BREEDاصیل
Pakistan’s best-known indigenous breed — a muscular game bird kept for meat quality, appearance and heritage rather than output.
Details →Golden Misri
TOP BREEDگولڈن مصری
An improved dual-purpose bird bred for Pakistani backyard and semi-commercial systems. Far more productive than desi, far hardier than a commercial hybrid.
Details →Desi
TOP BREEDدیسی مرغی
The traditional village bird. Low output, minimal input, and a meat and egg premium that commercial birds do not command.
Details →
Rhode Island Red
رہوڈ آئی لینڈ ریڈ
An imported dual-purpose breed long established in Pakistani backyard and improvement programmes. Hardy, productive by village standards, and easy to keep.
Details →
Naked Neck
گنج گردن
A featherless-necked bird with a genuine physiological advantage in heat — fewer feathers means better heat dissipation.
Details →A note on the numbers
Breeder manuals describe what a strain does under ideal conditions. Pakistani field results commonly run behind them, and a summer cycle runs behind a winter one. Use these figures to compare strains against each other, not to predict what your shed will do — for that, use your own numbers.
Sources
- Comparison of performance, meat quality and profitability of Cobb, Hubbard and Ross broiler strains
- Comparative growth and meat yield of Arbor Acres, Cobb 500 and Lohmann broiler strains
- Laying characteristics and egg geometry of four varieties of indigenous Aseel chicken in Pakistan
- Poultry Research Institute, Punjab — conservation and improvement of poultry breeds
- ZTBL — financing for Golden/Misri chicken poultry farming
- Comparative performance of Naked Neck, Black Australorp and their crossbreds
Photo credits
- aseel — photo by Asultansyed, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- naked neck — photo by Simone Ramella from Rome, Italy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- rhode island red — photo by HeatherLion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- lohmann brown — photo by Konstantin Nikiforov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- broiler — photo by Larry Rana, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Images are reproduced under their respective licences and have been resized for the web. Freely licensed is not the same as uncopyrighted — these remain the photographers’ work.
14 BREEDS AND STRAINS LISTED