Effect of Eggshell Color on the Egg Characteristics and Hatchability of Guinea Fowl (Numida Meleagris) Eggs

Abstract

Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), breeder, eggshell color, hatchability. ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to determine the effects of eggshell color of guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) eggs on eggshell quality and hatchery results.

Changes of Selected Egg Quality Traits Depending on the Laying Period of Semi-Intensively Raised Guinea Fowl Hens

“…Also, significant variations of shell colour expressed in CIELab indicators were determined depending on the evaluation term (p<0.01). Average values of L* (74.38) and b* (20.71) reported by Eleroğlu et al (2016) in the eggs of 42-week-old Guinea fowl were comparable to our results, but value of b* (4.61) was lower. Shell coloration in brown laying hens is a process influenced by a housing system, hen age, hen strain, diet, stressors, and certain diseases, as reviewed by Samiullah et al (2015).…”

Influence of Season and Day Length on Production and Reproductive Traits and Egg Characteristics of the Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris)

“…It was observed that major rainy season recorded significantly higher values of egg weight followed by minor rainy season and lowest in the dry season. Egg weight was similar to those recorded by Konlan et al [22] in Northern Ghana and [6] in Botswana. Sloan and Harms [31] have shown that oestrogen and progesterone levels positively correlated with hen-day egg production in pearl Guinea fowls during major rainy seasons in the tropics.…”

“…Fertility and hatchability values were similar to those reported earlier [11,20]. Egg weights were better than earlier reports of 38 g, [19,12], 39.99 g [22] and were similar to 40-45 g [20]. This contradicts the earlier findings of Boon, et al (1997) who attributed increased feed intake in birds as a result of photoperiod differences, as longer photoperiod determines the periods in which birds' daily activities and feeding can occur and has major effect on feed intake.…”

“…This result is similar to the study of Eleroglu et al [19] who reported that Guinea fowl egg laying continues all year around in free range and contrasts to Fani et al [20] who reported that Guinea fowl egg production is confined to the rainy season from April to October in Nigeria. The trends of egg production in this study is supported by Chukwu et al [21] who reported 150-160 eggs per hen for production season from July to March and values were higher than the report of Konlan et al [22] who recorded 100 eggs per hen within the same period of study. This report indicates that increased rainfall showed an increased monthly egg output as earlier reported [23].…”

“…Significant effect of season on fertility was also reported by several authors [18,26]. This trend is corroborated by earlier report that Guinea fowl hens are capable of laying fertile eggs during the rainy seasons where food abound [22]. Also, male fertility has been reported to decline to about 40% when exposed to a temperature 32°C and semen characteristics and sperm-egg penetration is also affected [25].…”