The influence of the mass of incubation eggs on the growth indicators of a live weight of the bred young chickens and the quality of their eggs

Purpose: to determine the influence of the mass of hatching eggs on the growth and development of hatched chickens and on the quality of the eggs obtained from them in hens of the Pushkin breed.

Materials and methods. The material for the study was chickens of the Pushkin breed, in the amount of 70 heads. 52 weeks of age and their descendants, used later in reproduction (85 ♀ and 28 ♂). The birds were kept in individual cages. Conditions of keeping and feeding are in accordance with the standards adopted in the bioresource collection of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Growing Animals “Genetic collection of rare and endangered breeds of chickens”. Immediately before incubation, 340 eggs were estimated by mass. hatching eggs. The hatched chickens were weighed at the ages of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks. Depending on the weight of the incubation egg of the mothers and the sex of the chick, the data obtained were divided into three groups: Group I (light) ⩽M-0.5σ (⩽63.7 g-♀ and ⩽65.14 g-♂), Group III ( heavy) ⩾M+0.5σ (⩾68.2 g-♀and ⩾70.07 g-♂), eggs with intermediate weight are classified as “medium” - group II. At the age of 35 weeks, eggs obtained from daughters of the experimental groups were assessed.

Results. It was noted that there are high correlation coefficients between  weight incubation eggs the weight day-old of chickens: for hens r = 0.85 for roosters 0.95 (Р<0,001). The average live weight at one day of age by group differed significantly from each other. Significant differences were observed in both hens and roosters between groups I and III at 2 (P<0.05), 6, 8, 10, and 12 months of age (P<0.01). There were no significant differences in live weight between groups I-II and II-III. In terms of the quality of daughters' eggs, significant differences were observed in the weight of laid eggs between groups I and II, I and III (P < 0.01). In terms of the mass of protein, yolk, shell and the energy value of eggs, the highest indicators were noted in group III.

Conclusion. Studies have shown that the weight of eggs affects not only the live weight of chickens at the daily age, but also the live weight at a later period of growth. The coefficient of heritability of eggs mass (h2) for mothers was 0.701 (P<0.001) and for fathers 0.389 (P<0.01). Thus, it is possible to increase meat productivity without reducing the quality of eggs in meat-egg breeds of chickens by selecting incubation eggs of a larger mass.

1. Hristakieva P. Phenotypic correlations between the egg weight, shape of egg, shell thickness, weight loss and hatchling weight of turkeys / P. Hristakieva, M. Oblakova, N. Mincheva, M. Lalev, K. Kaliasheva // Slovak j. Anim. Sci. – 2017(2). – V. 50. – P. 90-94.

2. Buyarov V. S. Assessment of the tribal qualities of the agricultural bird of the meat direction of productivity (review) / V. S. Buyarov, Ya. S. Roiter, A. Sh. Kavtarashvili, I. V. Chervonov, A. V. Buyarov // Bulletin of Agrarian Sciences. – 2019. – № 3. – P. 30-38.

3. Yavuz A. Control of the mass of eggs of the parent -headed livestock at a late stage of production / A. Yavuz, A. Kalinovsky // Technical manual ROSS. – Monitoring the mass of eggs of the parental broiler livestock. – 2014. – 8 p.

4. Osmanan A. The productivity and homogeneity of chickens, derived from calibrated eggs / A. Osmanan, R. Erygin A. Gerasimov, Yu. Rylsky // Poultry farming. – 2011. – № 4. – Р. 21-22.

5. Kebede Senbeta Ewonetu. Effect of Egg Weight on post-Hatch Performance of White Leghorn Chicken Breed from Day-old to Laying Age / Kebede Senbeta Ewonetu, Asefa Kasaye // Journal of Poultry Research – 2018. – 15(2). – P. 16-22.

6. OST 10 321 2003 “Chicken incubation eggs. Specifications ” / V. I. Fisinin, L.F. Dyadichkina, R. V. Danilov, N. S. Pozdnyakova. - M: The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, 2003. – 15 p.

7. GOST 31654-2012 Eggs of chicken food. Specifications. – M.: Standinform, 2013. – 13 р.

8. Fisinin V. The quality of food eggs and healthy nutrition / V. Fisinin, A. Stepel, G. Erastov // Poultry farming. – 2008. – № 2. – Р. 2-6.

9. Abiola S. S. Effect of size on hatchability of broiler chicks / S. S. Abiola, O. Meshioye, B. O. Oyerinde, M. A. Bamgbose // Archiva Zootechnica. – 2008. – V. 57. – P. 83-86.

10. Egbeyale L. T. Effect of egg size and strain on growth performance of cockerel / L. T. Egbeyale, S. S. Abiola, O. M. Sogunle, M. O. Ozoje // Agriculture and Biology Journal of North America. – 2011. – V. 2 (12). – P. 1445-1453.

11. Bassareh M. Effects of Egg Size and Different Levels of Humidity during Incubation Period on the Embryonic Development, Hatching Percentage and Chicks Yield of Broiler Breeder / M. Bassareh, V. Rezaeipour // Austin J Vet Sci & Anim Husb. – 2021. – № 8(1). – P. 1074.

12. Tsarenko P. P., Vasilieva L. T. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality of agricultural poultry eggs: a textbook. – St. Petersburg: from the "Lan", 2020. – 280 p.

13. Perinek O. Yu. The problem of increasing the nutritional value of eggs and meat of chickens and the place of gene pool in its solution / O. Yu. Perinek, I. L. Galpern, O. I. Stanishevskaya, Yu. L. Silyukova // Genetics and Genetics and Genetics and Genetics breeding. – 2017. – № 3. – Р. 12-22.

14. Ayeni A. O. Effect of egg sizes on egg qualities, hatchability and initial weight of the hatched-chicks / A. O. Ayeni, J. O. Agbede, F. A. Igbasan, G. E. Onibi, M. Adegbenro // International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB). – 2018. – Vol. 3. – Issue 3. – P. 987-993.

15. Sting E. Modes of incubation / E. Sting // Livestock of Russia. – 2007. – № 5. – P. 25.

16. Stanishevskaya O. The incubation regime should take into account the quality of the egg of / O. Stanishevskaya // Livestock of Russia. – 2008. – Р. 17-18.