Egg quality characteristics of sussex chickens reared under the housing conditions of Cukurova University farm

Abstract

This work was conducted to evaluate the egg quality characteristic of Sussex multi-purpose chickens reared under the housing conditions of the Cukurova University Farm. A total of 81 Sussex chickens from the Poultry and Research Unit of Cukurova University were used in this study. The external and internal egg-quality paraemeters were determined using 30 eggs on both the 28th and 33rd weeks of egg production cycle. The egg quality parameters measured were the Haugh unit, breaking strength, yolk color, shell thickness, egg weight, shape index, shell weight, albumen index, yolk index, and albumen pH. The egg weight, albumen index, yolk index and Haught unit were 57.89±3.99g, 9.44±2.07, 43.22±3.57 and 84.85±8.87 respectively. The shape index, shell thickness, shell weight, shell breaking strength and albumen pH were %75.32±2.11, 0.338±27.84mm, 5.903±0.645g, 3.825±1.065 kg/cm2 and 7.84±0.18 respectively. The yolk color, L, a, b and E values were 55.85±7.02, 13.91±3.33, 47.18±7.90 and 74.99±5.96 respectively. It was concluded that the external and internal egg-quality parameters of Sussex chickens reared under the housing conditions of the Cukurova University Farm were between the normal range.