Livestock Studies 2011, Vol 51, Num, 1     (Pages: 015-019)

The Effects of Age and Oviposition Time on Egg Weight and Shell Quality of Brown Layer

Esin Ebru ONBAŞILAR 1 ,Özlem VAROL AVCILAR 2

1 Ankara Üniversitesi, Veteriner Fakültesi, Zootekni Anabilim Dalı, ANKARA
2 Niğde Üniversitesi, Bor Meslek Yüksek Okulu, NİĞDE
- The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of age and oviposition time on egg weight and egg shell quality of brown layers. During the experiment, eggs were sampled according to the collection time which was at 09.00 and 15.00 h at the 36 and 46 weeks of age during the 3 days obtained from the fifty four brown layers. Egg weight, breaking strength, shell percentage and shell thickness were determined in these eggs. As a result, age and oviposition time affected the egg weight and egg shell quality. Eggs collected at 09.00 were heavier but shell quality was worse than those of eggs collected at 15.00. There was no interaction between age and oviposition time. Keywords : Brown layer, Age, Oviposition time, Egg weight, Shell quality