Egg Quality Traits and their Repeatability Estimates in High and Low Body Weight Lines of Crossbred normal Feather, Naked Neck and Frizzle Chicken.

Abstract

Egg quality traits and their repeatability estimates were studied using a flock of 179 divergently selected crossbred normal feather (F), naked neck (a) and frizzle feather (FF) chickens. The high body weight line birds had heavier egg weights with the frizzle individuals (HFF) recording the highest egg weight of 54.22g at 42 weeks. The frizzle birds in the low body weight line (LFF) also had the heaviest egg weight of 50.05g while the naked necks (La) had the lowest egg weight of 34.64g. Shell thickness was not significantly different in both body weight lines, while yolk index (YI) was highest in the high naked neck line (Ha; YI = 0.59). Haugh unit was generally high and above 90% in both lines. Repeatability estimates for egg weight were low to moderate and ranged from 0.22 in HF to 0.41 in HFF while estimates of repeatability for shell thickness and Haugh unit were higher in the heavy body weight lines when compared to their low weight line counterparts. The magnitude of repeatability estimates for these traits seem to indicate that improvement for them could be achieved more by enhancing their non genetic factors.

Keywords: Egg quality traits, repeatability estimates, divergent body weights, crossbred indigenous chicken.