COMPARATIVE EGG QUALITY EVALUATION OF ISA BROWN AND FUNAAB ALPHA LAYERS REARED ON BATTERY-CAGE IN A ZAMFARA POULTRY FARM

Abstract

Quality of eggs determines the acceptability to consumers. Egg quality differs in meaning as consumers’ assessments of quality are influenced by the intended use of the eggs. Thus, a study on comparative egg quality evaluation of Institut de Sélection Animale Brown (ISA Brown) and FUNAAB alpha layers reared on battery-cage was carried out. In this study, 300 table eggs, 150 each of the Institut de Sélection Animale, Brown (IB) and the FUNAAB Alpha (FA), were sourced from Magaji Memorial Farm in Gusau, Zamfara State, and transported to the Physical Laboratory of Faculty of Agriculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto for quality evaluation within 24 hours of laying. On weekly basis for a period of five weeks, a total of 70 eggs (35 eggs from each strain) of uniform size were randomly selected and analysed for quality variations. Data were analysed statistically using student T-test. The results showed that among all indices only egg weight, eggshell surface, albumen index and Haugh unit were significantly (P≤0.05) different between both strains of layer chickens. The FA eggs were significantly heavier in weight (FA:59.50 ± 4.64g; IB:57.16 ± 5.17g) and better in shell surface area (FA:71.32 ± 3.65; IB:69.19 ± 4.16) than eggs of IB layers. However, the IB layer eggs had significantly (P≤0.05) better albumen index (IB:0.12 ± 0.11; FA:0.04 ± 0.01) and Haugh unit (IB:80.77 ± 13.29; FA:72.80 ± 14.57) than eggs of FA layers. It can be concluded that although IB eggs are better in term of internal qualities, eggs of FA layers are more likely to gain acceptability of consumers who care for better external qualities, like egg weight and shell quality.