Volume: 4, 2025
4th International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland:
ENVIRONMENT – PLANT – ANIMAL – PRODUCT
Abstract number: A030
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL4.A030
Published online: 9 April 2025
ICDSUPL, 4, A030 (2025)
Hens’ productivity and eggshell defects as factors determining raw material quality – preliminary research
Karolina Wengerska1*, Renata Zdun1, Ewa Blicharz1, Kamil Drabik1, Justyna Batkowska1
1 Institute of Biological Basis of Animal Production, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
* Corresponding author: karolina.wengerska@up.lublin.pl
Abstract
The shell of chicken eggs is the primary barrier separating the external environment from the contents of the egg. Proper shell quality is important not only in terms of the consumer evaluation, but also as an important productivity feature. This is because weakened shell strength contributes to significant losses of raw egg material at the production and trade stages. Shell quality is affected by a number of factors, i.e. nutrition, flock age or productivity. The purpose of this study was to make a preliminary assessment of egg quality, taking into account the occurrence of shell defects in relation to the productivity of laying hens. The material for the study consisted of 90 eggs obtained from 45-week-old Greenleg Partridge (GP) hens, the oldest general-purpose Polish hen breed, on which no intensive selection was carried out to improve laying performance, and 90 eggs obtained from 50-week-old Leghorn (Lh) hens, a typical high-producing breed. On the day of laying, the eggs were candled to assess the presence of shell defects and determine their frequency. Then a qualitative evaluation of the eggs was carried out taking into account the productivity of the laying hen and the most common defects, intact eggs (without defects) constituted the control group. The parameters of the whole egg (weight, specific weight, proportion of particular morphological elements), shell (shape index, strength, color, thickness, density), albumen (weight, height, Haugh units, pH) and yolk (weight, color, index, pH) were evaluated. In eggs obtained from GP hens, fewer eggs with defects were observed (63.33%) than in eggs produced by Lh birds (48.89%). Among the observed shell defects, the most common defect in the case of GP eggs hens was weak ends (11.11%) while the least frequently observed were marks (2.22%). In the case of Lh eggs pimples were most frequent (12.22%), while the occurrence of weak ends was not observed. In the case of quality traits differences were observed in egg weight, albumen quality traits and yolk weight in favor of Lh eggs. The productivity of laying hens can affect the frequency of particular shell defects and egg quality traits. The impact determination of the relationship between birds’ productivity and shell defect occurrence on eggs quality requires further research.
This study was funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) of Poland; PRELUDIUM Grant No. 2024/53/N/NZ9/030776.
Keywords: leghorn, greenleg partridge, pimpled eggshell
How to cite
K. Wengerska, R. Zdun, E. Blicharz, K. Drabik, J. Batkowska, 2025. Hens’ productivity and eggshell defects as factors determining raw material quality – preliminary research. In: 4th International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland: Environment – Plant – Animal – Product. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL4.A030