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

Abstract

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.