Phenotypic correlation estimates of external and internal quality traits of Cobb500 broiler hatching eggs
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Date
April, 2013
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Abstract
This study was aimed at determining the internal and external quality traits of the
hatching eggs of Cobb 500 broiler breeders as well as the phenotypic correlations
between these traits. A total of 330 eggs collected over a period of eleven weeks during
the second half of the first laying cycle, were used for this study. The birds were raised in
floor pens at a breeding farm of Darko Farms and Company Limited, at Atwima Manyia
a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti region, Ghana. The values (external quality
parameters) obtained for the egg weight, egg width, egg length, shell thickness, shell
ratio, shape index and shell weight respectively were 59.37g, 4.35cm, 5.64cm, 0.54mm,
12.4%, 77.6%, 7.35g. The internal quality parameters; albumen height, albumen weight,
albumen ratio, Haugh unit, yolk diameter, yolk height, yolk weight, yolk index, and yolk
ratio were found respectively as 5.94mm, 32.63g, 54.80% 75.10, 42.11mm, 16.35mm,
19.43g, 38.81% and 32.84%. According to the results obtained in this research, all the
internal quality traits of the eggs except the yolk ratio were found to have significant
positive correlations with the weight of the egg. These results suggest that it is possible to
use egg weight in determining the egg length, egg width, and weight. Both albumen
height and yolk height significantly influenced Haugh unit and this implies that these
traits could be used to determine the Haugh unit.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Animal Science, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Animal Science,
Degree of Master of Science in Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation