953
Relationship between Laying Frequency and Egg Sizes in Quail
Relationship between Laying Frequency and Egg Sizes in Quail
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Exhibit Hall AB (Kansas City Convention Center)
Abstract Text: The number of eggs laid by hens during a laying cycle is one of the desirable traits in commercial egg production, and the size of eggs produced by hens determine the quality, grade, marketability and acceptability of eggs by the consumers. Several factors such as breed, age, weight and management practices have been reported to influence quantity and quality of eggs produced by quail hens. This study investigates the relationship between quantity and quality of eggs as depicted by the frequency of lay and measurements taken on eggs. After an initial stabilization period, a total of 435 eggs were collected from 17 quail hens over a continuous laying period of 34 days. The hens were classified into three nominal groups as Low (17-21), medium (22-26) and High (26-31) depending on the number of days of lay during the study period. Majority (58.82%) of the hens were in the High laying group, while the Medium and Low laying groups accounted for 17.65% and 23.53% respectively. Consequently, about two-thirds (66.44%) of the eggs studied were from hens in the High laying group. Parameters studied include Hen Weight (HenWt), Feed Consumed (FeedWt), Egg Weight (EggWt), Egg Length (EggLt), Egg Width (EggWd), Shape Index (ShpInd), Egg Surface Area (EggSSA), Egg Volume (EggVol), Egg Density (EggDens) and Surface Area to Volume Ratio (SSAVol). All statistical analyses (Descriptive, Correlation, Regression and ANOVA where Yij=μ+αi+eij) were done using Minitab 16 software. A one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on each of the parameter revealed that only three (3) of the parameters (EggWt, FeedWt and EggDens) were significantly (P<0.05) affected by laying group (Table 1). There was a significantly (P<0.001) moderate correlation (r=0.5) between ChickWt, FeedWt and EggWt and a highly significant (P<0.001) correlation (r=0.99) between EggWt and EggDens. Hens with lower frequency of lay consumed less feed and had higher egg weight, whereas hens in the middle laying group consumed least and had the least egg weight. Small sized quail hens consumed moderately, laid least eggs laid but had the heaviest eggs.
Table 1: Mean ± SE of Measured Variables
Laying Group |
N |
HenWt (g) |
FeedWt (g) |
EggWt (g) |
EggLt (mm) |
EggWd (mm) |
EggSSA (mm2) |
EggVol (mm3) |
EggDens |
Low |
4 |
166.40±1.51 |
30.13±0.84ab |
10.08±0.11a |
30.39±0.19 |
24.36±0.14 |
22.40±0.24 |
10.19±0.16 |
1.0525±0.0006a |
Medium |
3 |
168.99±0.92 |
27.30±0.72b |
9.64±0.11b |
29.92±0.16 |
24.09±0.14 |
21.81±0.18 |
9.79±0.12 |
1.0522±0.0006b |
High |
10 |
169.06±0.78 |
32.64±0.49a |
9.96±0.04a |
30.01±0.12 |
24.19±0.10 |
22.01±0.14 |
9.95±0.09 |
1.0524±0.0005a |
Keywords: Laying Frequency, Quail, Egg Weight