The Relationships among Egg Quality Characteristic of Different Hybrid Layers to Forced Molting Programs with and Without Feed Withdrawal

Prediction of Eggshell Ultrastructure via Some Non-destructive and Destructive Measurements in Fayoumi Breed

Possibilities of predicting eggshell ultrastructure from direct non-destructive and destructive measurements were examined using 120 Fayoumi eggs collected from the flock at 45 weeks of age. The non-destructive measurements included weight, length and width of the egg. The destructive measurements were breaking strength and shell thickness. The eggshell ultrastructure traits involved the total thickness of eggshell layer, thickness of palisade layer, cone layer and total score. Prediction of total thickness of eggshell layer based on non-destructive measurements individually or simultaneously was not possible (R² = 0.01 to 0.16). The destructive measurements were far more accurate than the non-destructive in predicting total thickness of eggshell layer. Prediction based on breaking strength alone was more accurate (R² = 0.85) than that based on shell thickness alone (R² = 0.72). Adding shell thickness to breaking strength (the best predictor) increased the accuracy of prediction by 5%. The results obtained indicated that both non-destructive and destructive measurements were not useful in predicting the cone layer (R² not exceeded 18%). The maximum accuracy of prediction of total score (R² = 0.48) was obtained from prediction based on breaking strength alone. Combining shell thicknesses and breaking strength into one equation was no help in improving the accuracy of prediction.

Egg shell quality in Japanese quail: characteristics, heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic relationships

The objective of the present study was to estimate heritabilities as well as genetic and phenotypic correlations for egg weight, specific gravity, shape index, shell ratio, egg shell strength, egg length, egg width and shell weight in Japanese quail eggs. External egg quality traits were measured on 5864 eggs of 934 female quails from a dam line selected for two generations. Within the Bayesian framework, using Gibbs Sampling algorithm, a multivariate animal model was applied to estimate heritabilities and genetic correlations for external egg quality traits. The heritability estimates for external egg quality traits were moderate to high and ranged from 0.29 to 0.81. The heritability estimates for egg and shell weight of 0.81 and 0.76 were fairly high. The genetic and phenotypic correlations between egg shell strength with specific gravity, shell ratio and shell weight ranging from 0.55 to 0.79 were relatively high. It can be concluded that it is possible to determine egg shell quality using the egg specific gravity values utilizing its high heritability and fairly high positive correlation with most of the egg shell quality traits. As a result, egg specific gravity may be the choice of selection criterion rather than other external egg traits for genetic improvement of egg shell quality in Japanese quails.

Egg quality traits differ in hens selected for high as compared with low antibody response to sheep red blood cells

White Leghorn chickens were selected for 36 generations for high (HAS) or low (LAS) antibody response to SRBC 5 d after an intravenous challenge. Our objective was to determine differences in egg quality resulting from that selection. In total, eggs from 45 hens from each line were assessed for shape index (SI), weight (WT, g), albumen height (AH, mm), Haugh units (HU), yolk color (YC), and eggshell weight (ESW, g) and thickness (EST, mm). Three cycles representing early, middle, and late stages of production were examined. Eggs from HAS hens had higher SI scores (4.12 ± 0.55; P < 0.001) and greater AH (0.27 ± 0.12; P < 0.001) and HU (1.89 ± 0.91; P = 0.04) than LAS hens; conversely, eggs from LAS hens had greater EST (0.03 ± 0.01 g; P < 0.001) and heavier ESW (0.66 ± 0.09 g; P < 0.001) than HAS hens. Lines were similar for WT and YC (P > 0.52). Albumen height and HU decreased (P < 0.001), whereas WT, ESW, and EST increased (P < 0.001) over cycles for both lines. However, SI decreased in LAS hens, yet increased in HAS hens, across cycles (P < 0.001). An interaction between line and cycle was observed in WT, SI, ESW, and EST (P < 0.001), but only for WT did the interaction cause re-ranking across cycles. Egg quality was, generally, superior in HAS compared with LAS hens, suggesting that higher antibody response may maintain overall fitness.