EGG CHARACTERISTICS CHANGE DURING STORAGE AND ITS EFFECT ON THE HATCHABILITY AND HATCHLING WEIGHT OF INDONESIAN LOCAL CHICKEN Hasan Basrul (a*), W. Pakiding (b), H. Hasbi(b), N. Nahariah(b) and M. R. Hakim (b)
a) Undergraduate Program, Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, 90245
* hasanbasrul77[at]gmail.com
b) Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, 90245
Abstract
The objective of the research was to determine the changes in some egg characteristics during storage and their effects on the hatchability and hatchling weight of Indonesian local chicken. The study was conducted according to a completely randomized design of three storage durations (0, 7, 14 days, respectively) and four replications. A total 300 fertile eggs were collected from local chicken breeder parents 55 weeks that were raised in 20 wired pens with a sex ratio of 1 of 5. Eggs for the 14-day storage group were collected 7 days before the eggs were collected for the 7-day storage group, and the 0-day group was collected on the setting day so that all eggs from all groups could be set in the incubator at the same time. Six eggs from all groups were selected from the same parent clock for measurement of egg characteristics at the end of each storage period. During storage, egg weight was decreased significantly by 1.48% for the 7-day storage group and by 2.04% for the 14-day storage group. External egg characteristics (eggshell weight and thick) were not significantly affected by storage- however, the internal egg characteristics, such as albumen (height, weight, pH) and yolk (diameter, height, pH) were significantly altered after prolonged storage duration. The changes in these traits were followed by similar trend of decreasing the hatchability and hatchling weight of the egg from the 14-day storage group. It concluded that the optimum result in hatching performance could be maintained if the storage period was limited to only less than 7 days.
Keywords: egg characteristics, storage duration, hatchability, hatchling weight, local chicken
