Relationship Between Egg Shell Quality and Shell Breakage and Factors that Affect Shell Breakage in the Field–A Review

SummaryAbout 6 to 8% of the eggs annually produced are broken or cracked between the hen and the consumer's carton. The majority of this breakage is due to interrelationships between egg shell quality and the many biological, environmental and managerial factors which have been individually identified as affecting breakage. Some of the factors associated with shell damage discussed in this review include age of hens, temperature and humidity of the laying house, design of the cage systems and of the cage floors, type of material used to manufacture the cages, frequency of daily egg collection in the laying house and, probably most important, the frequency and quality of handling equipment maintenance. Age and genetic constitution of the hens, environmental temperature, and design and quality of equipment maintenance are the major factors that influence shell breakage. There is a curvilinear relationship between shell quality and shell breakage which explains why small changes in shell quality may be associated with large changes in the incidence of breakage. Published data indicate the incidence of breakage may range from as low as 1 to 2% to 35% or more for other egg producers.