Evaluation of egg quality traits in native Aseel chicken

The data on egg quality traits of 198 eggs from 56 Aseel hens at different ages i.e. 32, 40 and 72 weeks of age were collected and various external and internal egg quality traits were estimated and analysed. The base population was collected from Aseel home tract near Bheemavaram in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The birds were reared in deep litter system on adlib feeding with maize soya based diets during the experimental period. The analysis of variance revealed that age had significant effect (P≤0.001) on majority of the egg quality traits except for Haugh unit and yolk width. The mean egg weight at 32, 40 and 72 weeks of age was 37.08, 38.83 and 47.52 g with an overall mean of 41.81 g. The shape index was significantly (P≤0.01) higher at 72 weeks of age. Albumin weight, percentage and index varied significantly (P≤0.01) at different weeks of age. The average Haugh unit value was 75.98. Yolk weight, yolk index, yolk colour, yolk percentage significantly (P≤0.01) varied in three age groups. The average shell thickness and weight was 0.33 mm and 4.32 g respectively, which accounted for 10.4 per cent of the total egg weight. The study on Aseel egg quality characteristics is useful for the farmers for choosing the better quality eggs for production of good quality cocks/hens.