• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.993-998
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• 2015

Possibilities of predicting eggshell ultrastructure from direct non-destructive and destructive measurements were examined using 120 Fayoumi eggs collected from the flock at 45 weeks of age. The non-destructive measurements included weight, length and width of the egg. The destructive measurements were breaking strength and shell thickness. The eggshell ultrastructure traits involved the total thickness of eggshell layer, thickness of palisade layer, cone layer and total score. Prediction of total thickness of eggshell layer based on non-destructive measurements individually or simultaneously was not possible ($R^2=0.01$ to 0.16). The destructive measurements were far more accurate than the non-destructive in predicting total thickness of eggshell layer. Prediction based on breaking strength alone was more accurate ($R^2=0.85$) than that based on shell thickness alone ($R^2=0.72$). Adding shell thickness to breaking strength (the best predictor) increased the accuracy of prediction by 5%. The results obtained indicated that both non-destructive and destructive measurements were not useful in predicting the cone layer ($R^2$ not exceeded 18%). The maximum accuracy of prediction of total score ($R^2=0.48$) was obtained from prediction based on breaking strength alone. Combining shell thicknesses and breaking strength into one equation was no help in improving the accuracy of prediction.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1477-1482
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of diets with varying levels of calcium on egg production, shell quality and overall calcium status in aged laying hens. A total of five hundred 70-wk-old Hy-Line Brown layers were divided five groups and fed one of the five experimental diets with 3.5%, 3.8%, 4.1%, 4.4%, or 4.7% Ca, for 10 weeks. There were no significant differences in feed intake, egg production and egg weight among groups. The cracked eggs were linearly reduced as dietary Ca levels increased to 4.7% (p<0.01). A significant linear improvement for eggshell strength and thickness were determined with increasing dietary Ca levels (p<0.01). The contents of serum Ca and phosphorus were not affected by dietary Ca levels. With increase in dietary Ca levels, the tibial breaking strength slightly increased. There were no significant differences in the tibial contents of ash, Ca and phosphorus among groups. In conclusion, eggshell quality, as measured by appearance, strength and thickness of eggshell, were influenced by dietary Ca content as expected (p<0.05). These results suggested that aged laying hens require relatively higher level of Ca than required levels from current Korean feeding standards for poultry.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 1997

An experiment was conducted for 20 days( from July 21 to August 10, 1996) to investigate the differences in thickness of eggshell and eggshell membrane in Korean native chicken. All the eggs were purchased from a farm located in Chinju area. All eggs were categorized into Treatment I (34.89~51.39 g), H (53.32~60.70 g), and III (34.89~60.70 g) according to their weights. Eleven items were measured in all three treatments, i.e., egg weight, egg length, egg width, breaking strength, eggshell thickness of large end(STLE), eggshell membrane thickness of large end(SMTL), eggshell thickness of small end (STSE), eggshell membrane thickness of small end(SMTS), eggshell thickness of middle part(STMP), and eggshell membrane thickness of middle part(SMTM). Correlation coefficients between egg weight and eggshell weight, among eggshell thickness of large end, small end and middle end and eggshell weight were significant (P<0.01). Correlation coefficients between egg weight and large eggshell membrane were nega-tively significant(P<0.01). Breaking strengths were higher in Treatment I than in Treatment H. Correlation coefficients among thickness of eggshell and eggshell membrane at each point at 3 parts of large end, small end and middle end were not significant.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.53-60
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• 2022

This study investigated correlations between egg quality indicators to identify external egg quality traits to predict internal egg quality using non-destructive and convenient measurements. Thirteen indicators, including Haugh unit, albumen height, eggshell breaking strength, eggshell thickness, eggshell color (CIE L^*, CIE a^*, CIE b^*), and reflectivity value, egg weight, egg length, egg width, shape index, and yolk color, were investigated. A total of 180 brown eggs were obtained from one 27-week-old flock of Hy-line brown-laying hens raised in a cage system. Correlations were evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). The results showed strong correlations between Haugh unit and albumen height, eggshell color CIE L^* and reflectivity, egg weight and width, egg weight and length, eggshell color CIE L^* and CIE a^*, eggshell color CIE a^* and reflectivity, and shape index and egg length (P<0.001). Moderate correlations were observed between eggshell breaking strength and eggshell thickness, eggshell color CIE a^* and CIE b^*, and shape index and egg width (P<0.001). Eggshell color CIE L^* was correlated with eggshell breaking strength (P<0.01), and eggshell color CIE a^* was correlated with Haugh unit, albumen height (P<0.01), and eggshell breaking strength (P<0.001). The present study showed significant correlations between eggshell color and other quality indicators. Thus, this study suggests that eggshell colors based on reflectiveness and the CIE L^*a^*b^* value can be used to estimate the Haugh unit, albumen height, eggshell breaking strength, and thickness.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.723-726
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• 1996

A water loaded pressure device using water as the breaking force was developed to evaluate eggshell strength and compared with a dropping ball techniques. Further, relationships of shell thickness and weight of eggs to shell strength were also studied. Values for both of the shell strength measuring methods showed a highly significant correlation (p < 0.001) with shell thickness. The water loaded pressure method had a much higher simple correlation coefficient for shell thickness (r = + 0.786) than the dropping ball method (r = + 0.577). The shell strength measured by the water loaded pressure method appeared not to be correlated to egg weight. On the other hand, the negative sign of the standard partial regression coefficient and the partial regression coefficient of egg weight in the estimated multiple regression equation implied that for a given shell thickness a larger egg tended to have less shell strength than a smaller egg.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.290-296
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• 2003

Tsaiya ducks and Leghorn hens are the two major laying birds raised in Taiwan. They are all excellent egg layers. Tsaiya ducks are small in body size (1.3 kg) with bigger egg weight (65 g) and stronger eggshell breaking strength than eggs from hens. The eggshell consists mainly of calcium carbonate, hence calcium plays an important role in the eggshell formation. Magnesium is also present in eggshell in small amounts, which may have effect on maintaining eggshell quality. In comparison studies, it was shown that the duck eggshells contained higher calcium and lower magnesium content than chicken eggshells. The eggshell magnesium content was not affected by the dietary magnesium levels (690-2380 ppm) in ducks, but in hens, it increased linearly with dietary magnesium levels. The palisade layer ($5000{\times}$) of the eggshell was found to have a compact form for ducks while there are many hallow vesicles in chicken eggshells. The eggshell magnesium deposition model is different for ducks and hens with ducks having a one-peak and hens having a two-peak model. The calcium deposition model is similar for both birds. Both the carbonic anhydrase specific activity and total activity in the shell gland mucosa of ducks are higher than those in hens. Ducks retain higher magnesium and lower calcium in the shell gland mucosa and secret less magnesium and more calcium into the shell gland lumen for eggshell deposition. The ATPase specific activity is maintained fairly constant during the eggshell forming stage, indicating continuous calcium transport into the shell gland lumen for eggshell formation. The magnesium content in duck eggshells is much lower than that in hens indicating that the magnesium content in the eggshell may have an effect on eggshell quality.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1044-1054
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• 2020

This study was performed to investigate the effects of lotus leaf hot water extracts treatment on the quality and stability of eggs using impregnation treatment through ultrasonication during storage. A total of 480 eggs were categorized into four treatment groups (n=30 each)-non-treated (CON), soaked for 30 min in lotus leaf hot water extracts without ultrasonication (T1), sonicated in distilled water (T2), and sonicated in lotus leaf hot water extracts (T3)-and stored for 15 d at 30℃. The egg weight, Haugh unit (HU), egg grade, albumen height, yolk color, eggshell thickness, eggshell breaking strength, and weight loss were measured for egg quality assessment. 2-Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) contents were measured as stability indicators. Additionally, total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity were evaluated. The HU, egg grade, albumen height, and yolk color of T3 were significantly higher than those of CON (p<0.05). No significant differences in eggshell thickness and eggshell breaking strength are observed among the groups. The weight loss of T3 was significantly lower than that of the other groups during storage (p<0.05). The application of lotus leaf hot water extracts also significantly reduced TBARS and VBN (p<0.05). The TPC, TFC, and DPPH radical scavenging activity of T3 were significantly higher than those of the other groups (p<0.05). These results suggest that lotus leaf hot water extracts may be useful as a natural ingredient for improving the quality and stability of eggs during storage.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 1994

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of shperical surface of eggs tray and eggshell on breaking strength of eggs for the development of a new egg tray design to prevent eggshell breakage. The results obtained were as follows: 1. According to the results obtained from investigation on the types of 22 egg trays collected from 9 countries(USA, Italy, France, Thailand, Japan, Netherland, Russia, Korea and Swiss), all egg trays except those from Korea were different in their types. 2. According to the determination of breaking strength for 4 pilot egg trays, type B and D were high in breaking strength. Trays B and D which would fit with the spherical surface of egg so that they could increase breaking strength were most recommendable. Breaking strength was not increased even though egg tray was strong. Thickness of eggshell of experimental eggs used in this experiment have no significance (P>0.05). 3. When eggs are packed and transported in egg tray, the breaking strength will depend on how much spherical surface of egg are covered by the spherical surface of the egg tray. Therefore, the inner spherical surface of egg tray must fit to the outer spherical surface of eggs when the egg tray is manufactured. 4. At present, there is only one type of egg tray being used in Korea despite the various egg sizes. In order to minimize the eggshell breakage, however, proper sizes or types of egg trays should be developed for each different categories of the egg size.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 1996

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding split diets for a.m. and p.m. in laying hens on egg shell qualities, and to study the relationship among the methods of measuring shell quality with 480 ISA Brown layers during 32∼36, 52∼56 and 72∼76 wk of age, respectively. A total of 1,080 eggs were collected from 6 treatment groups in every laying period and weighed individually. Egg specific gravity, egg breaking strength, shell thickness and shell percentage of eggs were measured, and then correlation coefficients (r) and regression equations were calculated. By feeding the split diets for a.m. and p.m. differing in ME, CP, and Ca levels, and as the Ca level of the p. m. diet increased, eggshell qualities were improved(P<0.05). The correlation coefficient values indicate that shell percentage, shell thickness and egg specific gravity are highly correlated with the egg breaking strength(P<0.01).

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2023

Vitamin D3 is an essential nutrient which plays an important role in calcium metabolism for eggshell formation, in calcium and phosphorus metabolism for bone mineralization, and in maintaining host immunity. Although there have been a great deal of studies investigating the role of vitamin D3 in eggshell quality and vitamin D3 contents in eggs, no attempts have been made to monitor the eggshell quality and vitamin D3 contents in eggs at farm level. Thus, this survey was conducted to measure eggshell quality and vitamin D3 contents in eggs laid from laying hens fed diets containing different levels of vitamin D3. Eggs from four commercial laying hen farms were sampled before and 1, 2, 3 and 5 weeks after provision of the vitamin D3-enriched diets added with the level of 16,500 IU and 29,000 IU. Dietary vitamin D3 did not affect the eggshell color and breaking strength, but increase the eggshell thickness. In addition, vitamin D3 contents in eggs were elevated as vitamin D3 in diets was increased. It is concluded that addition of dietary vitamin D3 into the diets of laying hens at the commercial laying hen farms could improve eggshell quality and vitamin D3 contents in eggs. It is expected that the prediction equation for egg vitamin D3 contents might be produced if more data on vitamin D3 contents in diets and eggs at the farms are to be analyzed.