Estimation of Shell Surface Area from Measurements of Length, Breadth, and Weight of Hen Eggs

An algorithm for estimating shell surface area from measurements of length (L), breadth (B), and fresh egg weight (W) was compared with four algorithms based only on fresh egg weight. Eggs were obtained from 17 laying strains at 34, 46, 50, 58, and 66 weeks of age. A total of 1346 eggs was used. Estimates of surface area derived from the following algorithms .9109L.289 B.3164 W.4882, 3.9782W.7056, and 4.67W.6667 were quite similar for a wide range of eggs from different strains of laying hens at various ages. The extra effort needed to measure length and breadth for estimation of surface area was considered not worthwhile.