Observations on the Inter-relationships of Egg Quality Traits and Their Association with Season, Age, and Strain of Bird

THE interior and shell quality of eggs laid by the domestic chicken are influenced by the age and strain of bird as well as season. The literature concerning the nature of these relationships has been reviewed by Johnson and Merritt (1955), Funk et al. (1958), Cunningham et al. (1960), Taylor (1960) and Bornstein and Lipstein (1962). The information presented here is meant to supplement information concerning the initial quality of eggs laid by birds of different ages and strains. This report is concerned with observations made on eggs from a number of flocks kept in cooperation with the Southern Regional Poultry Genetics Laboratory and the Poultry Department of the University of Georgia from 1960 through 1964. In 1960 ten egg production strains were placed at each of 10 stations including the Genetics Laboratory. In 1961 10 similar lots of birds were placed. The strains were intermingled at each station during …