| heal.abstract |
A study was conducted with eggs from commercial breeder hens to determine the effect of the birds' age and time of oviposition on the egg quality, and chemical composition of eggs when egg weight remains constant. The results indicated that age of birds had a significant effect on egg components (albumen or yolk weight) although the egg weight remained constant, while oviposition time had no significant effect on egg components. Bird age had no significant effect on egg shell quality characteristics. In contrast, oviposition time had an effect. Shells from eggs laid in the afternoon were thicker and had lower deformation values than those from morning eggs, although the egg weight remained constant, although age of bird had no significant effect on water content of whole egg, albumen or yolk, afternoon eggs contained more water in albumen or yolk than the morning eggs. Also, yolk carbohydrate, and protein contents from afternoon eggs were higher than those of morning eggs. Finally, the water content in yolk or albumen is predicted accurately by egg weight alone. |
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