COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF EGG QUALITY TRAITS OF EXOTIC CHICKEN AND THEIR CROSSES AT HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the characteristics of exotic chickens' eggs and their crosses. For this, the qualities associated with egg quality were assessed in 240 eggs from each genotype, totaling 2400.Eggs' weight, length, width, albumen height, yolk height, albumen weight, yolk color, eggshell weight, and eggshell thickness were all measured. SAS was used to analyze the data, and a substantial difference was found. The Duncan Multiple Range Test was used to distinguish between significant variations in means at 95% probabilities. Comparable values for the Koekoek breed ranged from -0.15 to 0.97, whereas the value of r for the Fayoumi breed ranged from -0.04 to 0.97. For the Koekoek breed, the values varied from zero (p-value: 0.9969) to a highly significant correlation, but for the Fayoumi breed, the values ranged from zero (p-value: 0.9783) to a highly significant correlation (p-value: 0.0001). (p-value: 0.0001). While 15 of the 55 potential pairs of correlations for Koekoek were highly significant, 36 of the 55 potential pairs of correlations for Fayoumi were extremely significant. These favorable and significant r values indicate that the data can be used for PCA analysis. The Sasso breed's R values ranged from -0.23 to 0.96, whereas the White Leghorn breed's values ranged from -0.34 to 0.98. Similar data for the White Leghorn breed ranged from zero correlation (p-value: 0.9023) to a very substantial correlation (p-value: 0.0001), while data for the Sasso breed ranged from zero correlation (p-value: 0.9238) to a highly significant correlation (p-value: 0.0001). A total of 27 combinations for Sasso and 23 pairs for White Leghorn were very significant out of the 55 possible pairings of correlations. Principal component (PC) factor ratings may improve the accuracy of egg weight prediction. The findings may be used by poultry farmers and researchers to choose, oversee, and estimate the market worth of hens. These factors could be used in breeding programs as selection criteria to improve characteristics that affect egg quality. It can be concluded that using PCA and CDA to estimate internal and external egg quality attributes leads to improved accuracy and reliability. The study's findings could be used to develop efficient management and breeding plans for tropically adapted hens in Ethiopia