Why Field-Testing Matters: Hy-Line’s Commitment to Real-World Performance

For nearly 90 years, Hy-Line International has operated the most extensive and advanced field testing program in the layer breeding industry. This long-standing investment is driven by one goal: to ensure that every Hy Line bird delivers top performance—not just in controlled research farms, but in the diverse, real-world environments in which our customers operate.

While data from pure-line birds on our pedigree farms is essential to our genetic program, those controlled conditions cannot replicate the complexity and unpredictability found on commercial layer farms. Field testing fills that gap, giving us critical insights into how our genetics perform under the pressures that egg producers face every day—be it heat stress, variable feed quality, disease challenges, or different housing systems like cage-free operations.

Hy-Line’s field testing goes beyond research—it is practical, applied science that directly benefits our customers.

Our field test and sibling testing program places specially selected crossbred birds—produced from pedigree sires—into commercial farms across multiple continents. Each bird is individually wing-banded and tracked from hatch to the end of the lay cycle. These birds are tested in:

• Cage and cage-free housing systems

• Tropical and temperate climates

• Various feed programs and challenge diets

• Regions with known disease pressures

Throughout the flock’s life, we gather comprehensive data on:

• Livability

• Egg production and egg quality

• Feathering

• Nesting behavior

• Heat tolerance

• Performance under field-specific challenges

This broad testing network includes collaborators not only in the USA but in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and other global regions—giving us a truly international perspective on how Hy-Line genetics perform across environmental extremes.

All field test data is integrated into Hy-Line’s genetic evaluation system and used to enhance genomic predictions and pure line selection. This means every generation of Hy-Line birds is selected not just for top-line production under ideal conditions, but for resilience, robustness, and reliability in the environments that egg producers encounter on their farms.

Field testing helps us:

• Develop birds with better livability and persistency of lay

• Enhance performance in cage-free and alternative housing systems

• Benchmark against competitors to ensure Hy-Line remains the global standard

• Create Performance Standards Manuals based on real commercial results

• Continuously improve commercial layer productivity across all markets

Hy-Line’s field-testing program represents a scientific and strategic investment in your success. Whether you’re producing eggs in a high-density tropical climate or in a cage-free operation under nutritional constraints, our birds are tested and selected with your realities in mind.

Field testing represents one more way Hy-Line delivers not just potential, but proven performance that egg producers worldwide can depend on.

We are proud to announce the addition of a new member to the Hy-Line team to oversee this important program, Dr. Andrea Rubio. Dr. Rubio brings her expertise in applied poultry research, feed additives for commercial poultry, data collection and experimental design, and customer field trials to our field testing program. In her role, Dr. Rubio will provide the Research and Development department with data from the field program allowing the geneticists to incorporate this data into their evaluation of the pure line stock in making selections for the next generation of Hy-Line layer varieties.