Evaluation of Laying Performance and Egg Qualitative Characteristics of Indigenous Hens Reared in Rural Areas of Isfahan Province

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the egg production performance and egg quality characteristics of the indigenous ‎chickens reared in rural areas of two different climates of Isfahan province. Totally, 2160 indigenous chickens were studied in ‎this research. Two dominant climatic regions (cold and ‎hot) were determined for Isfahan province. In each climate, two towns and three villages in each town were chosen. Chadegan and Khansar were considered as cold and Kashan as well as Varzane were considered as towns in hot climate. Furthermore, six families were determined as experimental units in each village (a total of 72 families). Primarily, thirty-six chicks and four ‎roosters of 45 day-old ages were delivered to each family. Laying performance of the chicks was ‎recorded during the laying period (21-72 weeks of age). The egg quality characteristics were recorded once every two ‎months. The results showed that although climate affected egg production across 25-32 and 57-64 weeks of ages (P<0.05), it did not influence the average egg production during the entire laying period. The ‎least egg production observed in Chadegan (25.9%) which was significantly lower than Varzane and Khansar ‎‎(35.9% and 37.5%, respectively; P<0.05). Moreover, shell qualitative index in cold climate was statistically better than that in hot ‎climate (P<0.05). Chadegan had the highest egg shell thickness and shell to egg weight ratio among four towns ‎‎(P<0.05). Furthermore, yolk color index in hot climate was significantly improved compared to cold climate (P<0.05). ‎In conclusion, the egg qualitative characteristics were affected by climate conditions‎.