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).

Egg Quality Traits in Wg, Gg and Gl Japanese Quail Populations

“…Albumen proportion is almost 2/3 of egg mass, with average values from 57.14% in group WG tо 59.90% in group GG. Our data in the three groups are comparable to results from similar research studies (10,13,14). In some studies higher albumen percentage in quail eggs were affirmed (18,19).…”

“…The difference between average egg weights of the lightest population (GL) and the heaviest one (WG) was significant (p<0.05). Lower egg weights in meat-type quails were also affirmed (6,(8)(9)(10). Shape index (SI, %) is an important species-, breed-, line-and individually-related trait influencing egg strength, its fitting into standard packages and for hatching eggsits hatchability.…”

“…This could be explained by the relatively constant intra-species values of the trait, evolutionally associated to species reproduction. The share of valuable quail egg parts in the three groups varied from 87.42 and 89.05%, and quail eggs have higher yolk content than chicken eggs (10,16). Albumen proportion is almost 2/3 of egg mass, with average values from 57.14% in group WG tо 59.90% in group GG.…”

Selected Traits of Hatched and Unhatched Eggs and Growth Performance of Yellow Japanese Quails

“…In the present study, the average egg weight of the yellow Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) was determined 12.23 g. The following weight values were previously reported: 11.28 g by Kul & Seker (2004); 11.06 g by Sezer (2007); 11.43 g by Alkan et al (2010); 11.14-12.84 g by Ozdemir & Inci, (2012); 11.52-12.30 g by Stojčić et al (2012); 8.19 g by Ojedapo (2013); 13.06 g and 11.48 g for meat and layer types, respectively, by Hrncar et al (2014); 12.70 g by Alasahan et al (2015); and 12.20-13.26 g by Hanusová et al (2016). Average eggshell weight was determined as 0.85 g in the present study, which was previously reported as 0.84 g by Kul & Seker (2004), 0.96 g by Sezer (2007), 1.00 (0.84-1.15 g) by Alkanet al (2010), 1.73-1.80 g by Stojčić et al (2012), 0.94 g by Ojedapo (2013), 1.09 g by Alasahan et al (2015), and 1.12-1.21g by Hanusová et al (2016). In the present study, albumen and yolk weights were determined as 6.93 g and 4.45 g, respectively, and previously reported as 6.75 g and 3.69 g by Kul & Seker (2004), 6.07-7.08 g and 3.42-3.72 g by Stojčić et al (2012), 6.35-7.44 g and 3.86-4.54 g by Ozdemir & Inci (2012), 4.95 g…”

“…The values of all traits investigated, except for egg weight loss, were numerically, but not statistically different compared with the eggs of male hatchlings. Ojedapo (2013), 7.76 g and 3.98 g by Alasahan et al (2015), and 7.38-8.16 g and 3.68-3.89 by Hanusová et al (2016), respectively. The differences between the obtained egg trait results with those reported in literature may be attributed to differences in the calculation of the traits and by the fact that yellow Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) eggs were used in the present study.…”