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Poultry egg quality
Egg quality defines those characteristics of an egg that affect consumer acceptability and preference. Components of quality include shell quality and interior egg quality for shell eggs, and interior egg quality for further processed eggs. The quality of the egg once it is laid cannot be improved. Hence, its maintenance is mostly a preventive process. Egg quality is influenced by several factors including rearing, temperature, humidity, handling, storage, and egg age. Shell quality: There are five major classes of shell defects: integrity, texture, shape, color, and cleanliness. Internal egg quality involves functional, aesthetic and microbiological properties of the egg yolk and albumen. The proportions of components for fresh egg are 32% yolk, 58% albumen and 10% shell. Regarding exterior egg quality, the shell of each egg should be smooth, clean and free of cracks. The eggs should be uniform in colour, size and shape.
It is commonly assumed in the egg industry that increases in egg size cause the decline in shell thickness observed as laying hens grow older. To test this belief, a study of the effect of breed, hen age and egg size on shell quality was recently completed at the University of Manitoba. The research was conducted by Wm. Guenter, A. Golian and C.Bennett. In the study, egg weight and specific gravity were determined once every ten weeks for all of the eggs laid by 1,200 hens. Eggs were...
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It is well understood that a hen must eat a proper amount of energy, protein, and calcium in a balanced ration to produce eggs of optimum size and good shell quality. It is also well known that excessive heat during summer results in small eggs or eggs with poor shell quality. High environmental temperature reduces a hen’s appetite. Within limits, it is possible to reformulate feed to provide adequate protein and calcium at reduced feed consumption rates. However, if the hen house environment...
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The benefits of adding enzymes to better utilize b-glucans by poultry was first observed in the early 1960s (Leslie, 1995). In 1971 Nelson et al. demonstrated the beneficial effect on phosphorus availability of adding phytase to broiler diets. However, it took nearly 20 years before phytase production became economically feasible (van der Klis et al., 1997). Only in recent years has the use of exogenous enzymes to increase phosphorus, protein or energy digestibility of poultry feeds gotten...
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Osteoporosis, cage layer fatigue and poor shell quality have a common cause, i.e., insufficient available calcium for the support of bone metabolism or egg shell deposition. Osteoporosis is a condition in which the structural components of bones become abnormally thin. Osteoporosis can result in excessive bone breakage when spent cage layer flocks are caught and processed. Hens with cage layer fatigue have trouble standing and typically crouch or lie at the back of the cage. Severely affected...
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Influence of low protein diets on performance and intestinal health
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In its constant search to improve the quality of food, DSM Nutritional Products presents an innovation that once again brings added value for all those involved in the poultry industry. This innovation is intended for CAROPHYLL® users and aims to assure a reliable color for egg-based products. The use of egg products in foodstuffs is increasing steadily, particularly in Europe. This increase can be attributed to the use of egg yolk in products which make up consumers’ every-day...
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Although there have been great improvements in the breeder house, egg transportation and the hatchery, on-farm hatching egg storage has been largely ignored. The lack of improvement might be traced to a lack of information about the optimum environment to maintain viability of hatching eggs stored at the farm level. Meeting chick placement needs and ensuring the full utilization of incubation equipment have made hatching egg storage inevitable in the commercial broiler industry. While...
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Problem * Is there a relationship between eggshell color and eggshell quality? * Is computer-based image analysis technology a reliable indicator of shell color? Introduction Throughout the world, preference for a shell color in table eggs has differed and is based mainly on the visual appeal of...
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Broken and cracked eggs represent a major economic loss on commercial farms. Approximately 6.5% of all eggs produced are unusable because of shell quality problems. Because most eggs are laid in the morning, and because it takes about 20 hours for the hen to form an egg shell, the hen has a large demand for calcium through the night during the period of shell formation. Previous research has shown that the digestive system of the hen has less total calcium during the early morning than in the...
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40 Years of Success in China with Hy-Line (Mandarin-language video)
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The conventional wisdom among scientists has long been that birds acquire the intestinal bacteria that are a necessary for good health from their environment, but a new University of Georgia study finds that chickens are actually born with those bacteria. Lead author Adriana Pedroso said the finding, presented at the 108th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston, could have important implications for the poultry industry and for food...
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ISA (Institut de Sélection Animale), the layer breeding division of Hendrix Genetics, has developed the techniques and obtained the exclusive rights to perform a genetic testing procedure to eliminate the fishy taint in eggs caused by TMA in layers. The large scale screening programme of ISA Pure Lines (PL) has already resulted in the elimination of the fishy taint phenotype in these lines. Hundred percent of all the Grand Parents (GPS) placed within ISA after January 2008 are...
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In stressful times, trivia eases the tension, and surely the chicken-or-egg debate (a timeless gem) qualifies. If you ask a food historian your which-came-first question, you'll likely get a serious answer. Fact is, it wasn't a chicken that laid that first breakfast egg, all those 6,000 years ago.
It was a goose, or maybe a duck, and it was in China. According to poultry historians, it would be another 2,000 years before our classic laying hen made her appearance -- in...
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DSM has announced the introduction of a new ‘Total Concept’ – a unique, integrated approach to egg production and processing. Comprising a range of DSM products, it delivers significant advantages at every stage of the egg production process – from animal nutrition through to diagnostics and processing. Egg processors and manufacturers can now effectively meet the combined challenges of guaranteed product safety, quality and value throughout the production chain. Theo Verleun, Industry...
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Effects of Muco-defen® on Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis in broilers
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An automated system for the on-farm packing of both table and hatching eggs has been added to the extensive range of equipment on offer from Jansen Poultry Equipment. Depending on the size and type of tray used, the machine is capable of a maximum throughput of 28,000 eggs per hour and can be adapted to handle either fibre or plastic trays. With its integrated tray de-nester, the machine can be located in rooms where space is at a premium. In addition to significant...
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For the first time in more than 20 years, the full nutritional profile of a typical Australian egg has been analysed and updated, with results highlighting some nutrients previously not recognised. The study - the most comprehensive nutritional analysis of fresh shell eggs ever undertaken in Australia - was commissioned by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited and took place in October 2007. The results of this study confirm eggs as a nutrient dense food and natural source of at...
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The ISA and Shaver breeds are set to benefit further from increased emphasis on egg size, visitors from UK distributors Tom Barron Independent Hatcheries heard during their annual technical update at Hendrix Genetics at Boxmeer, Holland.
Geneticist Jeroen Visscher said by selecting for egg mass rather than egg numbers they are achieving an extra 1 gram on the ISABROWN and Shaver layers and 0.5 gram on the ISA Warren, with an increase in production of one or two rather than three eggs per...
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Did you know that eggs can help boost your immune system? With 13 vitamins and minerals and the highest quality protein of any food, eggs can help keep you healthy and fight colds and flu! In total, Americans suffer from an estimated 1 billion colds each year, and children miss 22 million school days because of it 1 . While there is no cure for the common cold, getting a wider variety of immune-boosting nutrients may be one simple way to reduce the risk. Add these...
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Government study shows Salmonella levels over five times higher in intensive egg production than organic. The Soil Association can reveal that a recent government survey [1] shows that organic laying hen farms have a significantly lower level of Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium that causes one of the commonest forms of food poisoning worldwide. [2] The study showed that 23.4 per cent of farms with caged hens tested...
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Results from a recently completed Poultry CRC proof-of-concept project, Using "machine vision" to count hens and reduce egg breakage, has demonstrated that ‘machine vision’, or video image analysis (VIA – the ability of a computer to ‘see’), can be used to monitor egg belts for potential blockages and has the potential for effectively counting hens. Testing under commercial conditions has demonstrated that the ability of a...
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Economic losses associated with the incidence of egg shell defects are important when evaluating the profitability of a layer operation (Bell, 1998; Gomez- Basauri, 1997; Roland, 1988; Hamilton et al., 1979). Worldwide estimates of reduced shell quality leading to egg breakage have been found to range from 6 to 8% (Anderson and Carter, 1976; Folkerts, 1976; Roland, 1977; Hamilton et al., 1979). In the USA alone this has been estimated to be around 8% (Roland, 1988). Shell defects are not...
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While some animal rights organizations have been campaigning to ban traditional cage eggs in the U.S., it turns out that these eggs may be best for the environment. A study conducted by Adrian Williams, PhD., senior research fellow at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, found that the traditional cage egg production currently used by most U.S. egg farmers decreases the industry's effects on global warming by 10 percent, while converting to all free-range egg production would...
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