EFFECTS OF LAYER AGE AND EGG WEIGHT ON EGG QUALITY TRAITS OF JAPANESE QUAILS (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Abstract

The study was carried out to analyze the impact of layer age and egg weight on egg quality characteristics and further assess the correlation between these traits in Japanese quail eggs. In total, 295 quail layers starting from 10 weeks old were used in the experiment and 2,360 eggs were examined for quality evaluation. Bird age was grouped in every four weeks of laying period and eggs were categorized according to their weights (small, medium, large and extra-large). It was shown that eggs were smaller at 10th week of age (11.43 g) and gradually increased in weight till week 26th (11.61 g) and 30th (11.62 g). Quail age influenced all of egg internal characteristics examined