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1 For Peer Review Only

2 Effects of number of days and temperature of storage on hatching
3 egg quality of hubbard broilers in ghana
Journal: African Journal of Agricultural Research

URL: https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJAR

Manuscript Number:
AJAR/05.08.23/16467

Keywords:
Hubbard broilers, Hatching eggs, Temperature, Days, Egg Weight,
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4 EFFECTS OF NUMBER OF DAYS AND TEMPERATURE OF STORAGE ON

5 HATCHING EGG QUALITY OF HUBBARD BROILERS IN GHANA

6 ABSTRACT

7 Storing of hatching/fertile eggs is necessary in the operations of commercial hatcheries. in Ghana

8 (West-Africa). The research sought to investigate the effect of temperature of storage and

9 number of days of storage on Egg quality characteristics of hatching Hubbard broiler eggs. A

10 total of five hundred (500) hatching Hubbard Classic broiler eggs with an average weight of

11 60.5g were collected from a 54-56 week-old parent flock. One hundred (100) eggs were

12 collected on each of the following days within the period: Day: 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14. These 100

13 eggs were randomly divided into two groups of 50 each. One group was stored under cold

14 temperature of 180C, while the other group was also stored under room or ambient temperature

15 of 25oC-350C. Fifteen eggs each from the ten groups were randomly selected and analyzed for

16 the following egg quality characteristics: egg weight, wet yolk weight, dry yolk weight, egg shell

17 weight, egg shell thickness, blastoderm diameter, percentage wet yolk weight, percentage dry

18 yolk weight, etc. The data was analysed with SAS Proc. GLM procedure at P<0.05. (SAS, 2012).

19 Generally, egg quality characteristics declined with increasing days of storage and ambient

20 temperature conditions of storage caused faster deterioration of egg quality.

21 KEY WORDS: Hubbard broilers, Hatching eggs, Temperature, Days, Egg Weight, Blastoderm

22 diameter, Yolk Weight

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26 INTRODUCTION
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27 Storing of hatching/fertile eggs is necessary in the operations of commercial hatcheries in Ghana.

28 However, poor handling of fertile eggs prior to incubation leads to low hatchability, high pricing

29 of day-old chicks, subsequent poor performance of the chickens and general loss of income to

30 the affected poultry farms (Dr. Kwabena Darko, Darko Farms Limited; Personal

31 Communication). Visits to many breeder farms across the nation; revealed that, fertile eggs are

32 collected and stored under conditions that need to be improved. Because a lot of these breeder

33 farms are small holdings and do not have hatcheries of their own, they rely on commercial

34 hatcheries to incubate their eggs. Hence, they need to stockpile eggs till they have the right

35 volumes for economical hatchery space renting. Some of the breeder farms either do not have

36 proper cold rooms to store the eggs or they do not have cold storage at all.

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38 Results from previous studies on various species of birds including some broiler breeds indicate

39 that, with increasing days of storage, the internal properties of the fertile egg (yolk ratio, yolk

40 index, albumen ratio, albumen index, and Haugh unit) progressively decline (Tilki and Saatci,

41 2004; Caglayan et al.,`2009); . As storage time lengthens, albumen pH increases, albumen height

42 decreases (Lapao et al., 1999), and yolk sac membrane elasticity declines (Jones and Musgrove,

43 2005) impairing embryo development.

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46 OBJECTIVE/PURPOSE OF STUDY

47 -To assess the effect of storage period and temprature on egg quality characteristics of Hubbard

48 broilers.

49 This research sought to investigate the effect of various days of egg storage; both under cold storage
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50 (18oC) and at ambient temperature (25-30oC) on egg quality characteristics of Hubbard breed of broilers

51 namely: egg weight, wet yolk weight, dry yolk weight, egg shell weight, egg shell thickness, blastoderm

52 diameter, percentage wet yolk weight, percentage dry yolk weight and percentage egg shell weight.

53 METODOLOGY

54 SITE DESCRIPTION

55 The research was initiated at a commercial breeder farm, located at Akropong-Esaase in the Ashanti

56 region of Ghana (6.6666° N, 1.6163° W). Average minimum temperature was 25 oC and maximum

57 temperature was 35oC. Average relative humidity (RH) over the period was 40 % (Meteorological

58 Services Department, Kumasi).

59 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND TREATMENTS

60 The experimental design used in the storage of eggs was a 2 x 5 factorial arranged in a completely

61 randomized design (CRD). The treatments were two storage temperature regimes: (i) cold temperature

62 at 18oC and (ii) ambient temperature at 25-35oC and five different days of storage: 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14

63 days.

64 METHODS, PROCEDURES AND DATA COLLECTED

65 Collection of Eggs

66 A total of five hundred (500) hatching Hubbard Classic broiler eggs with an average weight of 60.5g were

67 collected from a 54-56 week-old breeder (parents) stock. The collection was done progressively over a

68 period of fourteen (14) days. Dirty, blood stained and cracked eggs were discarded before sorting and

69 storage of the remaining eggs. These eggs were marked with special identification codes to facilitate

70 identification.

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72 STORING OF EGGS
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73 One hundred (100) eggs were collected on each of the following days within the period: Day 1, Day 4,

74 Day 7, Day 11 and Day 14. These 100 eggs were randomly divided into two groups of 50 each. One group

75 was stored under cold temperature of 18oC, while the other group was also stored under room or

76 ambient temperature of 25oC-350C. Hence, at the end of the storage period, there were a total of two

77 hundred and fifty (250) hatching eggs under cold storage and another two hundred and fifty (250)

78 hatching eggs under ambient storage.

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80 EGG QUALITY ANALYSIS

81 When the storage period was ended, fifteen (15) eggs each from the ten (10) groups were randomly

82 selected and analyzed for the following egg quality parameters: egg weight, wet yolk weight, dry yolk

83 weight, egg shell weight, egg shell thickness, blastoderm diameter, percentage wet yolk weight,

84 percentage dry yolk weight and percentage egg shell weight. Each of the eggs was broken and yolk was

85 separated from the albumen with a beaker and egg separator. A digital balance was used to determine

86 the wet yolk mass. The yolk was rotated for the blastoderm to be visible on the upper surface of the

87 yolk. Blastoderm diameter was determined with a Vernier caliper. The egg shells and yolk were dried for

88 72 hours in an oven at 700C and the dry shell and dry yolk weights determined with a Scout Pro digital

89 balance, with a capacity of 400g. The shell thickness was determined using a 25x1mm micrometer screw

90 gauge.

91 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

92 EGG WEIGHT

93 The results obtained showed that there was no significant difference between the weights

94 of the eggs before they were stored under the different temperature regimes (Table 1).

95 However, as days of storage progressed, the weight of the eggs became significantly
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96 different. (P<0.05). Egg weight after storage showed significant effects of temperature and

97 days of storage (Table 1). The eggs stored under cold storage were about 2.24g heavier

98 than eggs stored under ambient temperature. The results also showed that the weight of

99 eggs decreased as the number of days of storage increased. The weight of eggs stored over

100 a period of 14 days was 8.83g lower, compared to the weight of eggs stored for 1 day (Table

101 1). Percentage weight loss of the stored eggs recorded significant differences, as ambient

102 stored eggs lost more weight (44.5%) than cold stored eggs. (P<0.05).

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124 Table 1: Effects of temperature and days of storage on egg weight before and after storage,
125 percentage egg weight loss, blastoderm diameter, wet yolk weight and dry yolk weight
Treatment EggWtBs(g) EggWtAs %WtLoss Blastoderm Wet Dry yolk
(g) diameter yolk weight
(mm) weight (g)
(g)
Temperat
ure
Ambient 66.44a 59.36b 9.88a 5.51a 21.35a 18.16b
a a b b a
Cold 65.48 61.60 5.48 4.55 21.65 19.23a
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S.E.M 0.58 0.48 0.70 0.052 0.19 0.19
P.Value <0.24 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.26 <.0001

Days of
storage
1 64.70b 64.53a 0.25c 4.05d 20.47b 17.90c
4 64.79b 60.87b 5.43b 4.08d 20.77b 18.03c
7 68.97a 63.00a,b 8.77ab 5.33c 22.90a 20.00a
11 65.64a,b 58.30c,d 10.86a 5.72b 20.97b 18.93b
14 65.70a,b 55.70d 13.10a 5.97a 22.40a 18.60b
S.E.M 0.91 0.77 1.11 0.083 0.31 0.30
P.Value <0.0071 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001

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127 EggWtAs(g)= Egg weight after storage

128 EggWtBs(g)= Egg weight before storage

129 %WtLoss= Percentage Weight Loss

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132 When eggs were stored under ambient conditionstemprature, low humidity and

133 higher temperature of storage caused loss of more moisture; leading to lower egg

134 weight. On the other hand, with eggs stored under cold storage, relatively higher

135 humidity, coupled with the lower temperature made the amount of moisture lost from

136 the eggs minimal. Scott and Silversides (2000) reported in their research that one of

137 the principal changes that occur with storage was a reduction in egg weight. The

138 continued decrease in egg weight with increasing storage time observed in this

139 present study is also in agreement with the findings of Aciar (1998) and Samli et al.

140 (2005).

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143 Blastoderm Diameter

144 Both temperature and storage period significantly influenced the diameter of egg

145 blastoderm in the study (P<0.05). Eggs stored under cold temperature recorded about

146 21% (1.01mm) smaller blastoderm diameter compared to eggs stored under ambient

147 temperature (Table 1). (**Similar to the wet yolk weight,) the diameter of the

148 blastoderm consistently increased with increasing number of days of storage. On the

149 average, eggs stored for 7-14 days had about 18% (1.0mm) greater blastoderm

150 diameter than eggs stored for 1-4 days (Table 1).

151 Blastoderm diameter increased with increasing days of storage because as the days of

152 storage increased, the blastodermal cell mass increased resulting in the expansion of

153 the diameter. As Eyal-Giladi and Kochav (1976) and Fasenko et al., 1999; mentioned

154 in their research, higher temperatures during storage; before incubation, encouraged

155 blastodermal (embryo) development which results in rapidly increasing cell

156 numbers and as such an expansion in the diameter of the blastoderm.

157 Wet Yolk Weight And Percentage Wet Yolk Weight

158 The results showed that the weight of wet yolk was not significantly affected by

159 temperature variation, however storage period had significant effect on the wet yolk

160 weight (P<0.05). The wet yolk weight was similar for eggs stored under cold and

161 ambient conditions (Table 1). However, as the days of storage progressed, the mass

162 of yolk in the eggs increased consistently; with eggs stored for 7-14 days having on

163 the average 10 % (2.0g) heavier yolk than eggs stored for 1-4 days (Table 1).

164 Percentage wet yolk weight of cold stored eggs were 16% heavier than ambient
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165 stored eggs. However, the means were not significantly different (P>0.05). Days of

166 storage had significant effect on this parameter (P<0.05), with eggs stored for 4 -14

167 days having about 13% heavier percentage wet yolk weight than those stored for 1

168 day (Table 2).

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171 Dry Yolk Weight and Percentage Dry Yolk Weight

172 Both temperature and storage period significantly affected the dry weight of yolk

173 (P<0.05). Eggs stored under cold temperature recorded about 6% (1.07g) heavier

174 yolk weight upon drying. The dry yolk weight also increased when the days of

175 storage increased; similar to the diameter of blastoderm. Eggs stored for 7-14 days

176 had, on the average, about 7% (1.25g) heavier dry yolk weight than eggs stored for 1-

177 4 days (Table 1).

178 Percentage dry yolk weight results are shown in Table 2. The storage temperature did

179 not significantly affect percentage dry yolk weight (P>0.05). However, the days of

180 storing eggs had a significant effect (P<0.05). Storing eggs for 14 days produced the

181 greatest percentage dry yolk weight, which was significantly higher than those stored

182 for all other days. The figure for day one was significantly lower than all other days

183 (Table 2).

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185 Weight of yolk increased with increasing days of storage because as the days of

186 storage increased, the blastoderm developed by increasing number of cells. Cold

187 stored eggs had heavier wet yolk weight than ambient stored eggs, probably as a
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188 result of increasing cell numbers with the cold storage eggs and increased apoptosis

189 (programmed cell death) and necrosis (injurious cell death) with the ambient stored

190 eggs because of the higher temperature which has been reported to be detrimental to

191 the development of the blastoderm or embryo inside the yolk (Hamidu et al., 2010;

192 Arora and Kosin, 1968; Bakst and Akuffo, 1999).

193 Dry Shell Weight, Egg Shell Thickness and Percentage Dry Shell Weight

194 The temperature under which eggs are stored did not significantly affect the dry shell

195 weights of eggs. Eggs stored under cold storage had similar dry shell weight as eggs

196 stored under ambient temperature (Table 2). However, the number of days of storing

197 eggs had a significant effect (P<0.05) on dry shell weight. The greatest effect was

198 recorded when eggs were kept in storage for 7 days, which was significantly higher

199 than when eggs were stored for 11 days.

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201 Storage temperature did not have any significant effect on shell thickness (P>0.05)

202 (Table 2.). But cold storage eggs had approximately 2.5% (0.1mm) thicker shells

203 than ambient stored eggs. The days of storage, however, had significant effects on

204 egg shell thickness, with eggs stored for 11days having significantly thicker shells

205 (about (0.3mm) thicker) than eggs stored for 4 and 14 days.

206 Additionally, in this research; Percentage dry shell weight is higher for ambient

207 storage eggs. The difference in the means is significant (P<0.05). Days of storage

208 also had a significant effect on percentage dry shell weight. Eggs stored for 14 days

209 had the heaviest percentage dry shell weight which was significantly higher than all

210 other days of storage. Eggs stored for one day had the least effect.
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212 Results on egg shell weight and thickness is contrary to findings by Ramos et al.,

213 2010 which suggested that increasing days of storage resulted in shrinking of the egg

214 membrane and cuticle.

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230 Table 2. Effects of storage temperature and days of storage on egg quality
231 characteristics.
Treatment Dryshell EggShell Percentage Percentage Percentage
weight (g) thickness wetyolk dryyolk dryshell
(mm) weight weight weight

Temperature
Ambient 5.17 0.39 36.2 30.80 8.79a

Cold 5.05 0.40 42.0 31.43 8.24b

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S.E.M P. 0.07 0.004 0.36 0.13
4.73 <0.39
Value <0.21 <0.28 <0.22 <.0001

Days of
storage
1 5.07a,b 0.40a 31.85b 27.92c 7.91c
4 5.17a,b 0.38b 34.2b 29.39c 8.51b,c
7 5.30a 0.39a,b 36.5a,b 31.83b 8.50b
11 4.90b 0.41a 36.0a,b 32.51a,b 8.36b
5.14a,b 0.38b 56.9a 33.92a 9.28a
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S.E.M P. 0.11 0.007 7.47 0.57 0.21
Value <0.011 <0.0001 <.0001 <.0001 <.0001
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234 *Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different. (P<0.05)

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236 Conclusion

237 1. Increasing days of storage of hatching eggs; particularly after seven days is detrimental to

238 the quality of the eggs.

239 2. Storage of eggs under ambient conditions must be avoided as much as possible. Operators

240 of hatcheries in low and middle income countries, like Ghana, must endeavourmust

241 endeavour to make cold storage facilities available for storage of the hatching eggs to

242 maintain egg quality in order to enhance better hatchability.

243 Recommendation

244 Prolonged egg storage; beyond seven days, was found to be detrimental to egg quality. Cold

245 storage of hatching eggs that need to be stored before incubation is highly recommended; as this
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246 practice maintains and preserves egg quality, better than ambient storage.

247 REFERENCES

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250 Arora K.L, Kosin I.L, 1968.The response of the early chicken embryo to pre-incubation temperature as

251 evidenced from its gross morphology and mitotic pattern. Physiological Zoology 41: 104-112

252 Bakst M. R, Akuffo V, 1999. Impact of egg storage on embryo development. Avian Poult. Rev. 13:125–

253 131.

254 Caglayan, Tamer, Mustafa G, Kemal K, Aytekin G. 2009. Effect of egg weight on chick weight, egg weight

255 loss and hatchability in rock partridges. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 8: 567-574.

256 Darko K, 2014. Personal Communication with the Managing Director of Darko Farms Limited, Akropong,

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