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Abstract
1. The egg quality of striped and normal duck eggs was compared to determine why striped eggs show decreased hatchability. A total of 430 eggs, obtained from a Pekin duck breeder flock aged 50–65 wks, were used in three experiments. The eggs were weighed and assigned randomly to measure egg quality traits, egg weight (EW) loss and hatchability during incubation.
2. There were no significant differences between egg types in terms of egg shape index, eggshell strength and thickness, albumen height, Haugh unit, yolk colour, weight of the eggshell with or without membranes, calcium, phosphorus, copper and manganese contents in the eggshell (with the inner and outer membranes or without the inner membrane), albumen weight, dry matter of albumen, crude protein (CP) of thick albumen and pH of the thick albumen.
3. The weight of eggshells with membranes, weight of thick albumen and CP of thin albumen in striped eggs were lower than those in normal eggs.
4. The thin albumen in striped eggs was heavier than that in normal eggs. The pH of the thin albumin in striped egg was significantly higher than that in normal eggs.
5. There were no significant differences in EW loss during incubation or duckling weight between striped and normal eggs. However, the hatchability of striped eggs was lower.
6. The lower weight of the eggshell inner membrane and thick albumen, lower CP content and higher pH in the thin albumen of striped eggs might contribute to lower hatchability.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by funds from the Yangtze River Scholar and Innovation Research Team Development Program (IRT0945), in part by the National Scientific Supporting Project of China (2011BAD28B03) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2011JS003).