Some Egg Quality Characteristics and Hatching Performances of Leghorn Hybrids

Abstract

This study examined the hatchability performance of the offspring and some egg quality characteristics, which will be obtained from crossing Leghorn breed chickens and five different genotypes. The study's experiment was carried out in the Prof. Dr. Hümeyra Özgen Research and Application Farm in Selcuk University. In the present study, which was designed to have one male and twelve females belonging to each genotype, a total of 186 eggs from each flock were examined. No adverse results were found in the incubation results of the crosses made with our local breed Denizli and Araucana, Brahma, and Cornish breeds, whose breeders increased locally. When egg quality characteristics were examined, the difference in egg weight between F1 genotypes was insignificant and ranged between 46.91-51.54 g on average. When the F2 generation was investigated, egg weight differed between genotype groups, and the average weights ranged between 57.6-67.14 g. In addition, the effect of genotype on egg shell strength values were found to be significant. In addition, the effect of genotype on egg shell strength and shell weight values were found to be significant. However, the effect on the Haugh Unit and yellow height were insignificant in the same generation. As a result, hybridizing genotypes with low yield performance with commercially important genotypes could provide a genotype for alternative production systems for future generations.