Genofond LLC is a specialized agricultural enterprise founded in 1998 in Nizhny Novgorod Region as a gene pool farm for the preservation, breeding, and selection of collectible poultry breeds.[1]
Breed collection
The enterprise breeds more than seventy chicken breeds, with a total flock of about 15,000 birds.[1] The collection includes Russian breeds — the Orloff, Yurlov Crower, Kuchin Jubilee, Moscow, Kotlyarevskaya, Russian Crested, and Zagorsk Salmon — as well as imported ones: the Brahma, Cochin, Sussex, Orpington, Faverolles, Plymouth Rock, Frizzle, Naked Neck, and others. By productivity type, the chickens are divided into egg-laying, dual-purpose (meat and egg), meat, ornamental, bantam, and fighting breeds.[1]
In addition to chickens, the farm keeps five breeds of guinea fowl, about 7,000 birds of the dual-purpose (meat and egg) type, as well as eight breeds of quail — about 8,000 birds — of egg, meat, and dual-purpose types.[1]
Selective breeding
The collection flock undergoes intensive selective breeding aimed at preserving breed characteristics and improving zootechnical performance. Methods for preserving genetic diversity in small populations are being developed and put into practice. With guinea fowl, the work focuses on increasing egg production and extending the period of the birds' productive use; with quail, depending on the breed, on increasing egg production and egg weight, accelerating growth, or achieving an optimal balance of productivity indicators.[1]
Sales
The main consumers of the breeding stock are farmers, private collectors, and scientific institutions that use the unique genetic collection in their own research. Products are sold both on the domestic market and abroad in the form of hatching eggs, day-old chicks, grown pullets, and adult birds.[1] The entire flock is housed on the enterprise's own enclosed grounds; its staff includes poultry keepers, breeding zootechnicians, and veterinary specialists.[1]
Sources
- russianagroweek.ru — Golden Autumn 2026 Russian Agro-Industrial Exhibition