ABSTRACTQuail,oneofthemostimportantsourcesofmeatandeggs,canaidinthereductionofthemeatcri-sisiftheyareraisedandcaredforbysmallfarmers.ThecurrentstudyinvestigatedtheimpactofeggshellcolorvarietyoneggqualitytraitsandhatchingparametersofJapanesequailCoturnixjaponicaeggs.Therefore,1,075eggswerecollectedfromfemalequailswhentheywere10-wkold.Theseeggsweredistributedbasedonthecoloroftheireggshellsinto5differentclassifications:eggshellwithcolortype1,verydarkdistributedbrownspotsonbrowneggshell;eggshellwithcolortype2,smallblackspotsonawhiteeggshell;eggshellwithcolortype3,wide-spreadbrownspotsonbrowneggshell;eggshellwithcolortype4,bubbleegg,pindottedongrayishbrowncoloregg-shell;andeggshellwithcolortype5,smallbrownspotsonveryclearlywhiteeggshell.Thecharacteristicsofhatch-ability,internalandexternaleggquality,andtherateofembryonicdeathwerethendetermined.Theresultsshowedthatthepercentageoffertilityandcommercialandscientifichatchabilitywasgreatlyaffectedbyeggshellcolor.Therewerealsovariationsinthepercentageofhatchedchicks’,earlymortalityrates,andlatemortalityratesbasedoneggshellcolor.Accordingtotheresultsofthecurrentstudy,eggshellcolorhasasignificantimpactoneggweight,eggwidth,andpercentagesofeggshell,yolk,andalbumenbuthasnoeffectonshapeindex,egglength,oreggelongation.Basedontheresults,eggshellswithcolortypes2and3wererecommendedforuseinhatchingproceduresduetotheirhighlevelsoffertility(92.01and91.63%,respectively),scientifichatchability(82.92and83.93%,respectively),commercialhatchabil-ity(76.56and77.32%,respectively),andhatchedchick(5.50and6.70,respectively).Inaddition,thelateembry-onicmortalityratewas0.00%foreggshellswithcolortype3.Therefore,thecoloroftheeggshellcanbeemployedasakeyfactoringuidingtheeggsthatarepro-duced,whethertheyaregoingtobeconsumedatthetableorusedforhatching,tomakebreedingeasier. |
