Organic egg quality during fifty weeks of laying

Abstract

Currently, the production of eggs in alternative systems has been increasing, but there is no information regarding its quality criteria. Aiming to analyze the physical and chemical characteristics of organic eggs, associated with the advancing age of the laying, egg weight, albumen height, shell thickness, yolk index and percentage, albumen and shell percentage and Haugh Unit (HU) has been evaluated. Every two weeks, six fresh eggs were evaluated, during the 28th and 80th week of laying. The external and internal eggs quality was affected by the age of the birds. Egg weight and shell thickness resulted in cubic and quadratic effect (P<0.001), respectively. HU evaluation and yolk and albumen percentage resulted in cubic behavior (P<0.05). The yolk index had a decreasing linear behavior. The increase in the age of laying hens caused the decrease in indicators of internal quality. Despite the reduction in quality, eggs from the organic production system maintained adequate standards for consumption throughout the production cycle. With advancing age laying, the eggs got heavier, however with reduced shell thickness, Haugh unit, index and yolk percentage.