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Choosing a Commercial Laying Hen Strain Based on Multicriteria Decision Analysis

Poultry Science Department, The Pennsylvania State University, 204 Henning Building, University Park, PA 16802; Phone: (814) 863-0655; FAX: (814) 865-5691

Correspondence: W. B. Roush

The amount of information contained in comparative performance reports for commercial strains of poultry can be overwhelming. The decision of which commercial strain of hen to choose involves production criteria which are measured in different units (e. g. , percent, dollars, lbs per 100, etc. ). Production values based on fuzzy set logic were used to overcome the problem of differing units. Fuzzy set logic is a recent mathematical idea for describing imprecise terms such as "desirability. " In terms of Management Science, a good decision is based on logic with consideration made of available data and possible alternatives. Although a good decision will occasionally yield unfavorable results, in the long run logical decision analysis will result in successful outcomes. Four decision methods, using fuzzy set memberships, were demonstrated for choosing a commercial strain of laying hen. The decisions were based on maximin, equally likely averaging, weighted averaging and ordered weighted averaging. In three of the four decision methods, the same strain of hen proved to be the choice.

Key Words: Multicriteria decision analysis • laying hen strain • production criteria