Quality traits and grades of geese eggs produced under local conditions of Kashmir

The geese eggs (n=67) procured from the farmers were analyzed for the external and internal quality traits. Weight of goose eggs ranged from 116-157g with the average of 136.65±2.10g. Shape index was 71.05±0.70% and specific gravity was found to be 1.09±0.01 g/dL. Shell colour was observed to be white. Average weight of albumin, yolk and shell was 60.06±1.56, 55.88±1.77 and 22.33±0.63g, respectively. Average shell and membrane thickness was 0.53±0.31 and 0.11±0.02mm respectively. Albumin and yolk index was 0.09±0.01 and 0.38±0.01 respectively, whereas Haugh unit was found to be 71.31±1.84. Colour of yolk varied from orange to yellow through all intermediate grades and average grade for yolk colour was calculated to be 4.18±0.37. Albumin, yolk and shell accounted for 43.48±0.78, 40.27±0.81 and 16.25±0.46% of the total egg weight. No inclusion bodies were found to be present in the eggs studied. Defects like cracks, rough shells and dirty shell in very small percentage was recorded. 54.55% of the total eggs studied were of grade AA; while as 39.39, 3.03 and 3.03% of eggs were of grade A, B and C respectively. The average grade for shell cleanliness, shell texture, shell soundness, egg shape, egg white and egg yolk was A, AA, AA, A, AA and A. The goose egg as a whole was ranked as grade A.