Egg traits in Japanese quails

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare some internal and external egg quality traits between two meat lines of Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica ). Line 8 was the result of selection for high adult live body mass (three generations). Line 9 was the control. Birds were housed in four-stage cage technology at the NAFC-Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra. Feed mixture contained 11.7 MJ ME and 200.0 g crude protein. Feed and water were given ad libitum . Females of both lines had the same age. Egg-laying traits were observed daily during 5-day period. Eggs were analysed in the laboratory of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. The egg weight was significantly higher (P≤0.001) in selected line 8: 13.259 g vs. 12.203 g. The egg shell weight, egg width, length and shape index were also higher (P≤0.001) in selected line 8. The shell thickness on egg sharp region differed significantly (P≤0.01) between lines 8 and 9. However, the difference in overall shell thickness was insignificant. Eggshell percentages were 9.128 and 9.200 % in lines 8 and 9. Significant differences (from P≤0.001 to P≤0.05) were found in yolk weight, yolk width, yolk height and yolk percentage. In general, selected line 8 was of higher yolk values, except for yolk percentage - 29.358 % vs. 30.292 %. Significant differences in albumen weight (P≤0.001), albumen width (P≤0.01) and albumen height (P≤0.05) were found. There was no significant (P>0.05) difference in Haugh Unit (89.297 vs. 88.893).