DOI: 10.36347/sjavs.2018.v05i02.002

Pages: 58-64

This research was done to study the impact of storage duration on the quality and proximate content of eggs that were obtained from laying chickens fed three commercial layers’ feed. ISA brown hens numbering 108 which were 34 weeks old were studied for 13 weeks. The hens were shared randomly into three treatments which were labeled as FT1, FT2, and FT3 with four replicates each. Each replicate was used to accommodate nine (9) hens. Three types of commercial layers feed commonly sold in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, were bought from a sales outlet (within the week of their supply to the shop) and offered in each treatment. The labels on the feed bags contained Crude protein, CP 16.2%, Fat/Oil 5.0%, Crude Fibre, CF 6%, metabolizable energy, ME 2500kcal/kg ME, calcium 3.6% and phosphorus 0.45% for FT1, similar feeds with CF 7% and Ca 3.5% constituted FT2 and CP 15%, CF 6.5%, ME 2400kcal/kg ME, calcium 1% and phosphorus 0.40% for FT3. Water was provided ad libitum while all routine activities were observed. On completion of the study, 21 eggs with similar weight were randomly collected within 72 hours from each replicate (84 eggs per treatment). Three (3) eggs were evaluated per replicate on the day that they were collected while the rest were analyzed weekly for the external, internal quality and the proximate content at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 weeks (day 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42). The result revealed that the storage duration significantly affected the weight of the eggs, shell weight, and the egg shape index. The weight of the egg was significantly greater within the first three week (21 days) for eggs obtained from FT1 and FT2 and up to 5 weeks (35 days) for FT3. The height of the albumen and HU revealed significantly greater values within the first fourteen days of storage which declined as the duration of storage increased. The proximate content of the stored eggs (protein) declined from day 28 in T1 and T2 and from day 35 in T3. It was concluded that the eggs which were co